Where Are the Jobs???
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 6:57pm
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The economic and recovery act has already expended millions within the city of Anderson to create/stimulate jobs and save them. Anyone want to hazard a guess surrounding just how much this city and it's business entities have received thus far?? (It's a whole lot more than all of us make in one year combined I am sure). Given the high level of trust we hold in our leadership inthis city, I'm sure the money is being spent wisely. Or is it? Here's a sample of some of what I found out when I started looking into this today. And I warn you, it is not pretty: Flagship Enterprise Center - $2, 708,532.00 Acquisition of 8.5 acres of land and construction of 80,000 sf multi tenant industrial facility for 1-3 tenants. Jobs created - 1.5 Status - Not available Cambridge Square of Anderson - A limited partnership - [b]$704,678[/b] Rental assistance payments. Jobs saved/created - [b]4[/b] 50% completed Anderson Community School Corp. - [b]$11,981,468.00[/b] To ensure each homeless child has a free public education. Improve teaching and learning for students most at risk of not meeting academic standards. Special Education and services for children aged 3 through 5 Special education for children with disabilities Education fund for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary facilities. Total jobs created/saved: [b]0[/b] Housing Authority City of Anderson - [b]$293,152.00[/b] ARRA Capitol Fund - Urban development Status - Not Available Jobs created / saved: [b]3[/b] Madison County Community Health Center - [b]$655,920.00[/b] Funding for construction of new facility and purchase of equipment Jobs saved/created - [b]2.61[/b] Madison County - [b]$970,782.00[/b] Supporting problem solving courts Status - not available Jobs saved/created - [b]0 [/b] Anderson, city of - [b]$1,673,019[/b] For purchase of law enforcement equipment, specifically 4 x 4 vehicles, Dodge Chargers for K-9, TASERS, 40mm multi-launchers,and CSI equipment to increase officer safety and positively impact investigative efforts. Jobs created/saved- [b]0[/b] Madison, County of - [b]$438,192.00[/b] To insulate dwellings of low income people. Elderly, etc. Jobs created / saved - [b]0[/b] Anderson, City of - [b]$251,845.00[/b] ARRA block grant to fund replacement of sewers, curbs, sidewalks. Jobs created/saved-[b]0[/b] Urban League of Madison County - [b]$150,702.00[/b] Head start program Jobs created/saved - [b]1[/b] Anderson, City of - [b]$560,200.00[/b] Energy efficiency block grant Jobs saved/created - [b]0[/b] Central Indiana Military Acade - [b]$355,606.00[/b] Improve education for students most at risk Jobs created/saved -[b] 0[/b] Source: recovery.govOkay lets do some simple math here. Just in the above expenditures we have passed out roughly 20,000,000 dollars to save/create a grand total of 12 (twelve) jobs. That comes out to a cost of $1,666,666.67 per job! Nice rate of return! Using that average we'll be needing another 50 billion or so to provide jobs for everyone in this city that doesn't have one. Just who's responsibility is it to track where these funds are going at the local level?Anyones? Are these funds being expended on their intended targets or is there some special accounting transfers being utilized to shift the funds toward other uses? Is there going to be any public accounting / audit of these funds and expenditures? That $1,673.019 targeted for new law enforcement equipment came in handy I'll bet. Imagine what our tax bills would have been if they had not received that money to obtain the new equipment! (Not that I am not thankful for the job our law enforcement officers do around here, because I am very thankful for it. But are they really getting this stuff?) And who decides who's homes get insulated out of the $438,192.00 designated for this? Will it ever be done or will we wait until they are found as human popsicles this winter, have the city seize their property for taxes due, then insulate them and sell them off to the highest bidder? And thank heaven for the extra $11 million + our school system has received. Jeeze, given they have all that money don't yah think our tax bills would have seen a reduction? Man, imagine if they had not received all that money! Yes, I am being sarcastic. But I am serious in asking just where in the heck all this money is being spent! 12 total jobs saved/created for 20 million dollars. No wonder the only places to get work in this city are slinging hash, answering phones, or running the gauntlet of testing and interviews necessary to even be considered for work at Nestle. . . Cripes! One has to wonder just where all this money is going, and into what pockets????? AFD Heavy Rescue Unit RULES!
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Good question.
Ouch! I don't think they wanted YOU to know that, PH.
Hey, Palehorse - really good questions! Funny we don't see any followup in our local newspaper. The other one, I mean. Are they waiting for an invitation?
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is; but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I had to go out of town to get a job.....I like what I do though. No boss looking over my shoulder....work at my own pace...get done when I get done....no real set hours but just get my banks finished no matter how long it takes me....or if I work quick that night, I can done earlier. Just me....no co-workers to bother with. Just lock myself in a bank and clean. I have 5 banks that I clean and I work Monday thru Friday,...weekends off.
What?? You can't understand what I am saying? I am speaking plain penguin!!
Remember this article about Anderson in the New York Times? It was published this year, on March 4th:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/business/05anderson.html
Here's some of it:
".......But on Monday, Anderson enjoyed some rare bragging rights. A global company, Nestlé, opened a new Coffee-Mate and Nesquik plant here and announced plans to expand to more than a million square feet. Its total investment, $529 million, is creating hundreds of new jobs.
[Where are they? How many? Are most of these Madison County/Anderson residents?]
Michael J. Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., said the new plant was part of Anderson’s effort to recover from “the G.M. hangover” — an affliction that more cities will face as G.M. continues to shut plants.“
"........
Mark Harrison, a car dealer, is betting on Anderson’s rebound. Although sales are down, as they are nationwide, he will spend $8 million this year to renovate his Toyota and Chevrolet dealerships.'
[You just gotta wonder what happened to Mike Harrison.]
“Anderson has rails, interstate and low taxes, and a community of willing workers, now that G.M. is gone,” he said. “We’re making an investment in a town that’s hit bottom and we feel like is coming back.”
While Anderson’s population dwindled to less than 58,000 in 2007, from 70,000 in 1970, Indianapolis grew to more than 795,000 in 2007 from nearly 739,000 residents just eight years earlier."
".......The most welcome sign of change is the Nestlé plant, where hourly wages range from $16.50 to $24, with full benefits.
A few miles away is Hoosier Park, a racetrack that added casino games last summer. The city is counting on Hoosier Park’s 1,900 slot machines and 16 electronic table games to attract regional tourist dollars.
[And Hoosier Park is endangered by Muncie's casino aspirations, as well as Ohio's and Michigan's. Not to mention the crippling licensure fee they paid to the state]
The gambling complex created 800 new jobs, half of them filled by Anderson residents, according to the park’s general manager, Jim Brown.
[Wonder how that's faring now]
And the Flagship Enterprise Center, a partnership between Anderson University and the city intended to incubate and support small businesses, says it has helped create 1,200 jobs and start 55 companies locally since 2005."
[I'd love to see a list of these companies and where they are now]
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is; but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Well thanks folks, but if they were waiting for an invitation they have one waiting in the letter to the editor mailbox, wherein I pose the same questions and information. (Within an edited version of what you have read here).
I know within a city with a good newspaper base, like Chicago for example, that letter would be enough to put a good investigative reporter or two onto the trail to sniff out the answers; if there are any to be had. . .
Moreover, the questions Bard puts out there are excellent and on point surrounding accountability and followup to prior claims. I especially like your point surrounding the casino. Great questions Bard!
Anyone here can see my source, in fact anyone in the country can see it.
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
At the home page click on the state of Indiana, then pop in your zip code to have the grants allocated within your area put onto the local map. Clicking on the points opens the window which details who, what, and how much; including status reports.
I know a lot of you do not agree with what the POTUS and his administration are trying to do with the stimulus package, and that's alright and it is well within your rights to oppose it. I endorse it, but at the same time I do not want to see it lining the pockets of individuals that are connected, while each and every one of us on both sides of the issue desperately need the stimulus fund to actually do what it is intended to do.
I do not want to see this fail because of the crooks downstream. If it fails let it fail of its own accord, and if it succeeds may each one of us enjoy the rewards; no pork and crooks allowed!
AFD Heavy Rescue Unit RULES!
How do we get this information?
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
At the home page click on the state of Indiana, then pop in your zip code to have the grants allocated within your area put onto the local map. Clicking on the points opens the window which details who, what, and how much; including status reports.
AFD Heavy Rescue Unit RULES!
thanks I will do this,
In stark contrast check out this entry:
Noblesville, City of - $3,463,097.00
Jobs created/saved - 14 ($247,364.07 per job)
AFD Heavy Rescue Unit RULES!