SCDC (South Coast Development Council) has been the subject of ridicule, criticism and suspicion long before it fell under my radar. Organized in February, 2000, SCDC declares a mission, “To improve the region’s economy” by acting as a “central clearinghouse through collaboration, consensus building” in order to create “good paying jobs”.
The nonprofit organization cites no success stories during its ten years of existence and an oft repeated quip around Coos County is that the only jobs SCDC has created are those of the SCDC executive director and a staff associate. Despite no measurable success SCDC continues to request and expect annual dues payments from local governments and recently requested another $5,000 from Coos County. The request died for lack of a second but is being reopened for discussion at a surprise meeting to be held Monday, the 27th at 3PM in the commissioners courtroom in Coquille.
Despite receiving public funds, the public receive only cursory representation on the governing board, have little or no idea what the organization is up to and have little influence on how the money is spent or choice in the projects SCDC deems worthy of promoting. Further, SCDC acts in the capacity of a lobbyist on behalf of private companies whose interests often run counter to the well being of the tax paying public.
These lobbying efforts put the organization at odds with the community and have fostered a deep divide within the county. This divide is exacerbated by the board chairman, Jon Barton, who wrongly labels people opposed to the decisions made by SCDC and resorts to name calling.
Instead of “consensus building” SCDC works to exclude other points of view and was criticized for its lack of outreach, albeit gently, in the recent SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) report prepared by the American Institute of Architects. No obvious effort has been made to improve outreach since the issuance of the report and promises by Executive Director, Sandy Messerle, to forward the organization’s budget to me or the charter to the Bandon Woodlands Community Association have not been kept.
Recently, without any statistical or empirical evidence to justify its position, SCDC lobbied the board of commissioners on behalf of an Australian strip mining company for $1M in property tax exemption. Displaying an embarrassing lack of fiscal sophistication, Messerle, instead of providing facts and figures to support the subsidy, tried to portray those objecting to it as simply bearing a grudge and of being mean spirited.
Messerle, despite an unremarkable resume in economic development, cannot be blamed for SCDC’s failure to meet its organization goals. The culture of the organization was well defined before she took up the reins a year or two ago and for this reason her laudable efforts at organizing the SDAT or implementing its recommendations are doomed no matter how hard she works.
That isn’t to say an economic development council or coalition isn’t a good idea and shouldn’t receive funds earmarked for such purposes. After ten years of giving SCDC a try, however, it is past time to check our losses and formulate a new plan and a new organization that embraces input from the entire community.
I am with you on abolishing urban renewal districts and enterprise zones. A journalist friend told me that if you want to dig up dirt, corruption or evidence of abuse, look into local urban renewal and other special taxing districts. They always deliver
Were just on the different ends of the spectrum. I don’t grant, or trust our public officials or committees, to spend, extra money above the basic services, designed for the purpose to even have public officials with duties and jobs.
If there is extra tax money, then were tax too much, and that needs returning to the pockets where it came.
But instead, great schemes like Urban Renewal, community services not provided in the Charters, and economic development are crated to spend the extra money. That is where the BS comes in, and the situation that we have with no accountability. People spending our money like they would never do in their own family budget. In fact, most of these people have never in there own experiences had that much money to handle.
Well, again, if a return on the public’s investment can be proven, these organizations may be worth it.
SCDC, FONSI and their de facto partner, The World newspaper, don’t make judgments based upon facts or with regard to the best interests of the county but rather the special interests of their closed (minded) little club.
“Private” There in competition with the private sector. Umpqua is really doing business, for a profit in order to pay back it loans. The grants can be from anywhere. You won’t know where because they are Private, and cannot see their records, even if given public funds, just like SCDC.
The same internals, just a different business model, different shell on the outside.
Set up by the “government, with special privileges” non-profit.
These are the same type organizations which set up tax abatements and enterprise zones.
The real questing is, why does there have to be some organization to do all this stuff for us. They become lobbies to promote activities, which bring them more funds.
Umpqua CDC is a private rural non-profit agency, committed to providing affordable housing and community-based economic development in Coos, Curry, and Douglas Counties. Our funding comes in the form of grants and loans. Donations are tax deductible.
Donations can be made to support one or more of the following:
General Operating Fund
Financial Fitness Training
First Time Homebuyer Counseling & Education
Heartwood ReSources’ New Warehouse
Holiday Food Baskets
Housing for Traumatic Brain Injury Clients
Housing for Victims of Domestic Violence
Housing Preservation for Senior and Disabled Residents
Mutual Self-Help Housing
Paint the Town
Youth Programs
SCDC is a private, non-profit organization designed to help create living-wage jobs for Coos and western Douglas Counties. We are financially and politically supported by both public and private groups.
SCDC’s mission is:
Creating partnerships to improve the region’s economy.
This organization shows some promise and I do not know how they are funded http://www.umpquacdc.org/ using public money isn’t always bad if there is a return on the investment. So far, with SCDC, there is no return on investment.
Is that model like the City of Coos Bay, who was giving the tax money in grants of $7000 to business persons. Now there is a model we can all get behind. The fact that it was an URA economic development agency make little difference.
It is still, when using public money a redistribution of money from one persons’ pocket to another. It still smells the same, they just keep changing the color.
The part that still flabbergast me is that the sham is accepted by so many and rejected by so few. The accepting ones are willing to give money out of there pocket to someone else, who has not earned it, instead of saying, I want that money to remain in my pocket. Or, that money needs to be used for a defined City infrastructure which benefits the citizens of the City, not the few.
Until that attitude changes, it will be more of the same.
There are models of well run economic development agencies out there and any new organization would have to have a new charter and guard against associating with the earlier group to save its reputation from the tarnish left by SCDC.
More has to change, than, just the Organization.
“That isn’t to say an economic development council or coalition isn’t a good idea and shouldn’t receive funds earmarked for such purposes. After ten years of giving SCDC a try, however, it is past time to check our losses and formulate a new plan and a new organization that embraces input from the entire community.”
The problem about the bull on the china shop is, its still a bull. Any new organization asking or taking or receiving public funds for economic development will want to consist of the same players who are members of the current failure and to continue down the same rat hole.
As you may have noticed our current elected persons believe, most do that giving public funds to a non-governmental organization, with out standards or measurable results for the use of those funds is an honorable deed.
They give the funds to a non profit that has no requirement of releasing their records to the public, and the money givers of our tax dollars, care a little, but not enough to have those records be public, and still give them their funds on a wind and a promise.