Comments on: Business Giveaways

By: SCVTalk.com » Blog Archive » How do you solve a problem like Bob Kellar?

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:00:37 +0000

[...] anti-government folks, the ones who loudly protest any government spending programs but are strangely silent when the handouts go to local [...]

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By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:02:30 +0000

“We could have just let Newhall keep going in the direction it has been heading for some time but if you’ve ever seen dryrot travel then you can imagine what would happen going south to north.”

I’ve never argued against substantial civic investment in Newhall. Far from it! I support everything the City has done there for the last decade, from the train station to the community center to the streetscape, the library, the land purchase, and veteran’s plaza. More please! Let’s build it up and make it a great place.

The City has done great and they have set the bar really high, which is why I’m so disappointed to see them blow $100k on…well…crap.

Anyway, moving on.

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By: navigator

navigator — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:42:29 +0000

The proof will be in the pudding, so to speak, after each business uses their $5000 and we can hopefully get some quantitative data to see whether the boost helped each business or not. If it does help it will help us all in the long run. We could have just let Newhall keep going in the direction it has been heading for some time but if you’ve ever seen dryrot travel then you can imagine what would happen going south to north.

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By: blazingmonk

blazingmonk — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:13:32 +0000

Based on the homepage… it appears those are grants that can be applied for building improvements. Not just to go into the pockets of business owners.

I will be believe it free market once we get ride of the Fed… and quit quietly taxing everyone with inflation.

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By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:33:18 +0000

^^ Exactly!

That $100k could have gone to building a new park, or more sidewalk bulbouts, bike lanes, road projects or a million other things we all use.

Instead it literally is going into business owner’s pockets, for their benefit alone.

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By: Need for Involved Citizenry

Need for Involved Citizenry — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:27:26 +0000

I’d love to see the money here and spent here – but for things that are more worthwhile and longlasting – like civil works projects. Repave more of the streets, create turnouts for the bus’s so they don’t tie up traffic when they stop and wait on Soledad, build parking lots for folks who use commuter transit, invest in more conservation efforts, save some teaching jobs so classroom sizes can go back to where they were, hire more Sheriffs to deal with the drug and gang problems as well as the unsolved murders.

Is it the governments responsibility to bail out businesses? If so, then should they become owners and have input into the day to day decisions (GM) and get a share of profits (other than taxes). It is a road I hate to see us embark on.

A true capitalist approach would argue survival of the fittest. Good times should help offset bad times. Unfortunately, we all to often have owners and senior management taking significant amounts of free cash flow out and then leaving the company. The end result is a shell of a company that is highly leveraged where bankruptcy is the most viable option (Newhall Land and Farming).

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By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:15:46 +0000

Local businesses already get a huge amount of assistance, help, credits and funds from our local government. This is, after all, the BFF community when it comes to business.

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By: blazingmonk

blazingmonk — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:53:52 +0000

So you prefer that all stimulus money stays out of SCV? The stimulus is happening only about 20%-30% has been distributed. I want lots more poured into this community. The other situation requires a Government institute to rescue a business AKA Bail it out.

The only prayer this place had was to make it a historical landmark

You are also making a lot of assumptions that no one knows.

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By: Need for Involved Citizenry

Need for Involved Citizenry — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:51:24 +0000

Blazingmonk:

It is hypocritical because:

1. The money came from my pocket as well as yours!

2. If the money wasn’t available, would these businesses have been spending their own money on such foolishness – in other words, was there enough economic benefit to justify the investment?

3. How much of a vetting process was there to ensure the use of the funds was indeed geared to create jobs? Doesn’t look like too much.

4. There is no such thing as a free lunch!

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By: Petz

Petz — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:08:16 +0000

What was truly outrageous was increasing the benefits package of the unionized city employees. The city council and city manager are out of touch with reality and this campaign cries out for a true conservative to serve as the rudder guiding this ship into the next decade.

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