Friday, September 30, 2011

Rock the Vote



On September 28, 2011, Writers/Artists/Musicians and the Coalition for Economic Justice hosted a “Rock the Vote” event at the Vault.

Artists showcased at “Rock the Vote” included: Chuck Tingley, Zoe Holloman, Charlie Ertel, Kaitlin Frisicaro, Stephen Coppola, Mark D. Donnelley, Ph. D., Jessie Siobahn, Brooke Reynolds, Hillel Goral, Jessie Siobahn Lamprecht, Sam Sacco, Susan Marie and Andrew Stanek. Music was performed by Chris Milam and Poetry by Ten Thousand.

The event was an an incredible success, bringing young voters together to share information and enjoy each other’s company. Writers/Artists/Musicians, and the Coalition for Economic Justice continue to show their dedication to promoting an active, educated voting public. (See photos: CEJ flickr page)

"This event is a demonstration of the intrinsic value of civic engagement through a variety of different mediums --voting, education, and varying artistic expression," Micaela Shapiro-Shellaby of CEJ reported,

"An educated and active citizenry is the only way that we can realize a more vibrant and robust democracy,"

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

“Do we want the legacy of the ECIDA to be a Family Dollar Store?”


These are the words expressed by Andrew Rudnick at a recent Erie County Industrial Development Board meeting, during which the ECIDA board, which Rudnick is a member of, approved a taxpayer subsidy package to the developer of yet another dollar store in Buffalo on Monday, September 19. Despite the reservations expressed by Rudnick, the ECIDA board approved the $49,000 tax subsidy to the developer, David Pawlick and Creative Structures Services Inc., who plans to build Family Dollar store in South Buffalo.

As you might recall, the ECIDA has been busy approving subsidy deals for dollar stores. In 2010, the ECIDA board unanimously approved a subsidy deal to Pawlick to build a Dollar General store on Buffalo’s East Side.

In 2009, the ECIDA subsidized the development of a Family Dollar store on Buffalo’s West Side, giving close to $300,000 in sales and property tax breaks to Carl Paladino. Read an excellent post on this at the Homeless Alliance of WNY’s blog.

Proponents of these development projects argue that they are worthy of receiving taxpayer subsidies because they reuse vacant properties and involve extensive and costly environmental remediation. Critics, including Rudnick, oddly enough, contend that the ECIDA is following an undesirable trend by continuing to subsidize the development of dollar stores, which mostly offer low-wage jobs.

As CEJ and our allies have advocated for years, the ECIDA and NY’s IDAs need to promote true economic development that creates good, sustainable jobs that pay a living wage and strengthen our communities. Continuing to subsidize low-wage retail is not the answer to the economic challenges facing our state or region, nor is it the legacy we want for our economic development agencies. Instead, we think we should be getting our money’s worth by ensuring that public money creates a public good.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Citizens Budget Commission Issues Report Challenging Regional Councils to Deliver on Their Promise by Reigning in Our Sprawling Subsidy Programs


The Citizens Budget Commission just released a new report called Avoiding Past Mistakes: Principles for Governing Regional Economic Development Councils. The Report echoes much of what CEJ and its allies in the Getting Our Money’s Worth Coalition have been calling for.

The report begins with an explanation of the new Regional Economic Development Councils and Governor Cuomo’s campaign to open NY for business and lays out the challenge ahead -
Opening New York for business will be a challenge. From 1980 to 2000 the job creation rate in the U.S. was nearly 2.5 times New York’s; employment grew by 45.6 percent nationally and in New York by 19.1 percent. In the most recent decade—2000 to 2010—the trends have deteriorated even further. The U.S. shed 1,967,000 jobs, or 1.5 percent of total employment, and New York shed 131,988 jobs, or 1.6 percent of its total. Almost all of the net job loss was experienced in upstate, which lost 131,346 jobs or 4.6 percent of total employment.

And of course ends with recommendations for how the council can chart a new path forward rather than repeat mistakes of these programs: The new Regional Councils have the potential to improve meaningfully outcomes by streamlining and coordinating all of these efforts, but the danger is that they will instead become new heads on the already huge and unwieldy economic development hydra in New York State. In order to meaningfully improve outcomes the Citizens Budget Commission lays out a few key recommendations that CEJ has been supporting and will continue to fight for through the regional council process and beyond -

1. Consolidate Industrial Development Agencies – have only one per region and place them within the Regional Councils’ purview.
2. Integrate Power Subsidies and Green Jobs Programs - The New York State Power Authority (NYPA) is the largest public authority involved in economic development next to Empire State Development (ESD), which is running the new Regional Councils. NYPA the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) should be brought under the umbrella of the regional councils so that grants and awards administered through these programs are done in a fashion that is not scattershot but instead part of a collective, regional plan.
3. Improve Reporting and Implement Standardized Performance Metrics – Because current programs have not been accountable and measuring performance has been difficult at best!
4. Improve Transparency – Current programs do not have a good track record around disclosure and transparency. The Regional Councils will do little to improve things, unless each is required to share common information with the public (not currently the situation – each region is sharing different information and engaging in differing public participation processes). Much of NY’s economic development spending is hidden from view. We can and should steal from best practices in other states and require deal specific disclosure from the Regional Councils and we need a Unified State Economic Development Budget – such a tool helps ensure that tax breaks get as much scrutiny as appropriations (ie –schools, health care etc) during budget negotiations. This helps guard against cutting vital programs rather than curbing subsidy spending that isn’t producing results.

Check out this great Good Jobs First paper which includes good recommendations about unified economic development budgets and deal specific disclosure.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Crowd Called for Jobs Not Give Aways: Corporate Interests Dealt a Blow at Erie County Economic Development Forum


Andrew Rudnick’s bow tie was twisted out of position at last week’s public forum on economic development priorities. A crowd of over 200 people sent a nearly unanimous message to members of the newly appointed WNY Regional Economic Development Council - invest our precious economic development resources on job creation, workforce development, entrepreneurship, education, our built and natural environment. And while you’re at it – stop squandering our resources on tax breaks for businesses that fail to deliver. Stop wasting our tax dollars on silver bullet mishaps and start investing in good jobs and strong communities.

CEJ member Richard Lipsitz got it right with his statement at the event, which was picked up by the Buffalo News –

Richard Lipsitz, vice president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, retorted: “Where do we stop? Should we drive our taxes to the point where we’re competing with Indonesia and Malaysia, with people who are slaves? Is that where we want to stop?”

We have to keep up the pressure if these new councils are to amount to much more than the status quo. We’ve got an opening in WNY, with the council using words like ‘sustainable,’ ‘community development,’ and ‘good jobs.’

Stay tuned for details on another Buffalo based meeting to accommodate all of the folks that were turned away last week.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Labor Day Parade


Labor Day Weekend was a blast - and it was capped off with an celebratory parade and picnic that was organized by the Buffalo ALF-CIO Council. In keeping with tradition, CEJ marched in the parade with our friends from WNYCOSH, Citizen Action, and the Working Families Party. (See photos on flickr!)

It is always great to see so many unions and members together in one place, and to feel the support of the on-lookers creates a powerful and healthy feeling of solidarity and strength. That alone was worth attending for.

The turnout, though official numbers were not tracked, appeared much larger than the past year's parade, even with less-than-perfect weather. That is a very encouraging sign. Perhaps, with all of the attacks on workers - both from governments and from major corporations, Labor Day has taken on a renewed significance. Rather than just a day off from work, by taking part in the parade and listening to media reports (See Buffalo News - CEJ's Andy Reynolds quoted in story on Labor Day parade), Labor Day has regained some of it's importance as a day where we reflect on and appreciate the value of organized labor and all of the gains that workers have been able to achieve through centuries of hard fought struggles.

But it is also an opportunity for our movement to mobilize and engage the community in a dialogue about our values and our vision for creating an economy that values and rewards those whose labor makes it all possible. So with that in mind, we ask you this question: What did Labor Day make you think about, and what do you think it will take to create a stronger movement that leads to the creation of quality jobs and expanding of workers' rights? (Please respond!)