27
Dec
2005
It was disheartening last week to see the East Moline city council so eager for jobs that it lost all common sense and self-respect.
On December 19 - just six days before Christmas and after less than three weeks of public deliberation - the council voted unanimously to approve a development agreement with Triumph Foods, which plans to build a $135-million hog-processing facility in the city. East Moline will provide about $20 million in incentives. The company claims it will provide roughly 1,000 jobs with an average hourly pay of $11.75 - or $24,440 annually.
Ignore concerns about jobs, money, working conditions, incentives, odor, pollution, and flooding. These are all relevant, but they ignore the larger question: Why did the City of East Moline push this agreement through so quickly, in less than a month and in December, when most people are busy with family and holidays and don't have the time or energy to interact with municipal government?
This is not about the merits of the proposal. It is an issue of public process, and of careful and public deliberation about the merits of the proposal.
It could very well be that Triumph is an exemplary corporate citizen that will provide decent jobs and living wages without fouling our air or water. The trouble is that there was not enough time for anybody to reasonably and confidently come to that conclusion. The city council has taken a massive gamble with Triumph.
City leaders will argue that they didn't have a choice, that their hand was forced by Triumph; the company needed a decision quickly.
I'm reminded of telemarketing calls in which the recipient is pressured to make a decision right now, without the benefit of time or research. This high-pressure technique is classic: The caller is making an offer that sounds too good to be true (say, a really cheap vacation), and then demands that these outrageous claims be accepted on faith.
Most people hang up. Suckers say yes and regret it later.
East Moline said yes.
In this case, Triumph is offering a state-of-the-art facility that would magically contain and/or eliminate the odors of 8,000 hogs being slaughtered daily. The wages are a couple notches above those of retail work. I think Triumph also promised that the sun would shine every day for a decade.
But this offer was only good in December. Triumph couldn't wait until a similar facility opened in St. Joseph, Missouri, in January, so that the city and its citizens could see if the company's claims about odor and wages were accurate. And if East Moline hesitated or asked for more time, Triumph would take its pigs and its jobs elsewhere.
East Moline should have hung up.
It's long past time for the Quad Cities to stop being held hostage by the prospect of jobs - any jobs. We seem to beg companies - with our fat incentive packages and fast-track time lines - to stay or move here, regardless of the pay scale of jobs or the suitability of the company to what we envision for our future economy. (Pig-slaughtering does not qualify as advanced manufacturing, by the way.) Our cities look pathetic and desperate.
City councils must set the agenda and the schedule. Until we start having standards - thus showing a little self-respect - we will continue to be suckered and exploited.
We need to learn how to hang up.
Ignore concerns about jobs, money, working conditions, incentives, odor, pollution, and flooding. These are all relevant, but they ignore the larger question: Why did the City of East Moline push this agreement through so quickly, in less than a month and in December, when most people are busy with family and holidays and don't have the time or energy to interact with municipal government?
This is not about the merits of the proposal. It is an issue of public process, and of careful and public deliberation about the merits of the proposal.
It could very well be that Triumph is an exemplary corporate citizen that will provide decent jobs and living wages without fouling our air or water. The trouble is that there was not enough time for anybody to reasonably and confidently come to that conclusion. The city council has taken a massive gamble with Triumph.
City leaders will argue that they didn't have a choice, that their hand was forced by Triumph; the company needed a decision quickly.
I'm reminded of telemarketing calls in which the recipient is pressured to make a decision right now, without the benefit of time or research. This high-pressure technique is classic: The caller is making an offer that sounds too good to be true (say, a really cheap vacation), and then demands that these outrageous claims be accepted on faith.
Most people hang up. Suckers say yes and regret it later.
East Moline said yes.
In this case, Triumph is offering a state-of-the-art facility that would magically contain and/or eliminate the odors of 8,000 hogs being slaughtered daily. The wages are a couple notches above those of retail work. I think Triumph also promised that the sun would shine every day for a decade.
But this offer was only good in December. Triumph couldn't wait until a similar facility opened in St. Joseph, Missouri, in January, so that the city and its citizens could see if the company's claims about odor and wages were accurate. And if East Moline hesitated or asked for more time, Triumph would take its pigs and its jobs elsewhere.
East Moline should have hung up.
It's long past time for the Quad Cities to stop being held hostage by the prospect of jobs - any jobs. We seem to beg companies - with our fat incentive packages and fast-track time lines - to stay or move here, regardless of the pay scale of jobs or the suitability of the company to what we envision for our future economy. (Pig-slaughtering does not qualify as advanced manufacturing, by the way.) Our cities look pathetic and desperate.
City councils must set the agenda and the schedule. Until we start having standards - thus showing a little self-respect - we will continue to be suckered and exploited.
We need to learn how to hang up.
