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When are you going to run for Council? Like DJA - you seem to be all talk and no action.<br><br>Shoot, at least ATTEND a City Council meeting and then you can speak with some kinda authority. As it is, you are all hot air - something SOME people may have an issue with given it probably adds to the global warming they are so worried about.<br><br>J :]<br><br><br>> From: jampot@roadrunner.com<br>> To: lfalen@turbonet.com; london@moscow.com; vision2020@moscow.com<br>> Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:28:13 -0700<br>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow<br>> <br>> What has yet to be explained is how you attract high tech businesses without <br>> attracting business in general. Setting the city council up as some sort of <br>> business border guard with the power to say "come on in" to some and "we <br>> don't much care the likes of you" to others should not be a function of city <br>> government or anyone else for that matter.<br>> <br>> It's hard to imagine a statement more arrogant than:<br>> <br>> "...Moscow needs to wean itself from a housing and retail fixation about <br>> growth. "Our voracious appetite to approve subdivision after subdivision, to <br>> build high-end homes, has run out of high-end people to occupy them," <br>> Swanson said, adding that new retail businesses seem to be only replacing <br>> old ones.<br>> <br>> "Over-built housing and replacement retail is not a good economic model..."<br>> <br>> Aren't we lucky that someone who is infinitely smarter than our builders <br>> will call a halt to high end homes being erected. Goodness knows the <br>> builder, who is the one taking the risk, couldn't be bright enough to assess <br>> the potential for profit or loss. If the market were to truly be saturated, <br>> I would imagine that banks might decline to lend the builder or buyer money. <br>> Then again the builder/buyer could always seek alternate forms of financing. <br>> (Does any of this sound like the market sorting itself out?)<br>> <br>> If a new retail business comes to Moscow and captures an old business's <br>> market, one would have to assume that there was a perfectly good reason for <br>> that to have happened. Either they had a better product, a better price, or <br>> better service. I don't believe there is anyone in Moscow prescient enough <br>> to decide that any one existing business is the apex of quality, the <br>> standard by which all others should be judged, and that no new competitor <br>> may come in and try their hand at providing something better or different. <br>> Often new businesses goad old enterprises into running a better operation <br>> and everybody wins. Why would we want to interfere in this natural process <br>> of improvement?<br>> <br>> I suppose encouraging high tech biz is wonderful, however it might magically <br>> be done, but standing in the way of other entrepreneurs so a select few can <br>> hold on to their nebulous notion of a unique Moscow is elitist, short <br>> sighted, and just plain wrong. I'm sure that Dan, Wayne, and Walter are <br>> bright enough to know when to get out of the way and allow people with a <br>> vision to have at it. The function of city government should be to work <br>> toward a prosperous and welcoming environment for all. Candidates who would <br>> presume to tell others how their lives ought to be lived should be shown the <br>> door.<br>> <br>> g<br>> <br>> ----- Original Message ----- <br>> From: "lfalen" <lfalen@turbonet.com><br>> To: "Bill London" <london@moscow.com>; "v2020" <vision2020@moscow.com><br>> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:34 AM<br>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow<br>> <br>> <br>> >I can't argue with bringing in high-tech companies, I'm all for it. I think <br>> >Moscow should try to attract all kinds of businesses. It is fine to place <br>> >controls on those that would create undue pollution. Other than that <br>> >promote almost anything that will provide jobs, increase the tax base and <br>> >improve the overall economy.<br>> > Roger<br>> > -----Original message-----<br>> > From: "Bill London" london@moscow.com<br>> > Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:58:18 -0700<br>> > To: "v2020" vision2020@moscow.com<br>> > Subject: [Vision2020] real economic development in Moscow<br>> ><br>> >><br>> >> Today's Tribune article about the MCA forum held last night is a great <br>> >> summary of the choices facing Moscow voters in this council election. <br>> >> Vote for the future with MCA endorsed candidates and Moscow will aim for <br>> >> both maintaining its uniqueness and attracting more entrepreneurial <br>> >> businesses. My thanks to the MCA board for sponsoring this forum. BL<br>> >><br>> >> ----------------<br>> >> Is high-tech the key to Moscow's future?<br>> >> Forum sponsored by Moscow Civic Association brings together business and <br>> >> community leaders<br>> >> By David Johnson<br>> >> October 23, 2007<br>> >><br>> >><br>> >> MOSCOW - The economic future of Moscow will depend more on attracting and <br>> >> retaining high-tech companies than encouraging more housing and retail <br>> >> business, members of a panel agreed Monday night.<br>> >><br>> >> "In the basic form, economic development is jobs," said B.J. Swanson, <br>> >> vice president of AmericanWest Bank here and chairwoman of the board of <br>> >> directors for Gritman Medical Center. "But not just any job." She said <br>> >> jobs should provide enough money to offer a reasonably comfortable <br>> >> living.<br>> >><br>> >> Robin Woods, president of Alturas Analytics located in Moscow, said 100 <br>> >> percent of her bio-tech business comes from outside Idaho, most of it <br>> >> from the San Francisco Bay Area. Yet, she and her partners opted to <br>> >> locate here because of the quality of life that's available<br>> >><br>> >> "Probably it would have been better to locate in San Francisco or <br>> >> Seattle, but with Fed Ex and the fiber-optic that we have ... and with <br>> >> the Internet, the world is flat and we can conduct our business here," <br>> >> Woods said.<br>> >><br>> >> David Alexander, a UI graduate and CEO of Ivus Industries, a small <br>> >> business he decided to locate here, said Moscow is an ideal location for <br>> >> entrepreneurs to tap into a high-tech labor pool that spins off both the <br>> >> University of Idaho and neighboring Washington State University in <br>> >> Pullman.<br>> >><br>> >> "What the business is, is a focus on extremely fast-charging rechargeable <br>> >> products," Alexander said of his startup company. He said the company, <br>> >> which has four employees, is currently developing a fast-charging <br>> >> flashlight.<br>> >><br>> >> Judy Brown, an economist and director of the Idaho Center on Budget and <br>> >> Tax Policy, said research shows if a community creates a good living <br>> >> environment, jobs will come. "The key thing that attracts" entrepreneurs <br>> >> and businesses to an area, Brown said, is quality of life, not tax <br>> >> breaks.<br>> >><br>> >> "Quality of life and the ability to work either from home or near home," <br>> >> she said, "are the two really key things in deciding where people locate <br>> >> those kinds of businesses."<br>> >><br>> >> The forum, sponsored by the Moscow Civic Association, comes two weeks <br>> >> prior to a city council election here that many say hinges on attitudes <br>> >> about economic growth. Bruce Livingston, president of the MCA, said the <br>> >> forum was called in part to dispel the notion that the MCA is <br>> >> anti-economic growth. He said the MCA is "pro business, pro growth and <br>> >> pro community."<br>> >><br>> >> About 30 people, including several council candidates, attended the forum <br>> >> at the 1912 Center.<br>> >><br>> >> Swanson said Moscow needs to wean itself from a housing and retail <br>> >> fixation about growth. "Our voracious appetite to approve subdivision <br>> >> after subdivision, to build high-end homes, has run out of high-end <br>> >> people to occupy them," Swanson said, adding that new retail businesses <br>> >> seem to be only replacing old ones.<br>> >><br>> >> "Over-built housing and replacement retail is not a good economic model," <br>> >> Swanson said.<br>> >><br>> >> According to statistics presented at the forum, Moscow has a population <br>> >> of about 22,350 and UI employs about 2,870 people. Gritman employs 431, <br>> >> with the Moscow School District and Wal-Mart, by comparison, employing <br>> >> 350 and 207 people, respectively.<br>> >><br>> >> Swanson said it's time for the community to get back on the right <br>> >> economic track with the primary focus on good-paying jobs and a secondary <br>> >> focus on housing and retail business. "And as always, focus on anything <br>> >> that will help the University of Idaho. They've carried us for years. <br>> >> It's time for us to get out and carry ourselves."<br>> >><br>> >> All the panelists said Moscow city officials and members of the city <br>> >> council have been extremely pro-business.<br>> >><br>> >> "Our intent is to hire WSU and University of Idaho graduates," Woods said <br>> >> about her expanding business. She said that all but one of the 30 people <br>> >> working at Alturas Analytics are from the two universities. Woods said <br>> >> it's important for Moscow to complete it's rewrite of the comprehensive <br>> >> plan, and to keep tech businesses together to encourage more business.<br>> >><br>> >> "I think it's important to have kind of a think-tank atmosphere," she <br>> >> said, "kind of a campus atmosphere in your tech park. So I don't think <br>> >> it's a good idea to scatter things here and there."<br>> >><br>> >> Swanson pointed out Alturas Technology Park, located on the southeastern <br>> >> edge of town, had modest beginnings, but now is home to around 150 jobs <br>> >> that have annual salaries of $50,000 and up. "And those jobs really <br>> >> contribute back to the community," she said.<br>> >><br>> >> ---<br>> >><br>> >> Johnson may be contacted at deveryone@potlatch.com or (208) 883-0564.<br>> >><br>> >><br>> >><br>> ><br>> > =======================================================<br>> > List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> > http://www.fsr.net<br>> > mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> > =======================================================<br>> > <br>> <br>> <br>> =======================================================<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>> http://www.fsr.net <br>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> =======================================================<br><br /><hr />Boo! Scare away worms, viruses and so much more! 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