EDITORIAL: Ann Arbor SPARK & Metrics
“I THINK THE metrics we give you are appropriate.” Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Paul Krutko made this statement at the June 16 City Council meeting. Mr. Krutko’s appearance at that meeting was nothing short of shocking. From loudly upbraiding Ward 1 Council member Briere—who is running for mayor— in the hallway outside of Council Chambers after she voted to table a motion to allocate $75,000 to Ann Arbor SPARK, to referring to a writer for Forbes as “…a member of the public who has made some assertions about a report,” the lack of decorum and respect suggest SPARK officials believe they will decide the appropriateness of the metrics and will control public money without question.
Mr. Krutko’s organization has received millions in public money, including money diverted from the local public schools. State Representative Jeff Irwin has made it clear that school money diverted is not returned to the AAPS as has been claimed. For the first time since SPARK was founded, there are elected officials on City Council who are committed to doing their due diligence with respect to requiring metrics from SPARK officials that are credible. Ward 2 Council member (and mayoral candidate) Sally Hart Petersen has said that she believes funding an independent audit of SPARK’s metrics is necessary.
We couldn’t agree more. When SPARK’s “metrics” delivered to the State of Michigan document 95 percent fewer jobs created than the “metrics” delivered to the Ann Arbor community, elected officials must sit up and take notice. This recent push for SPARK officials to provide credible, audited job creation numbers is long overdue. For this reason, perhaps, Mr. Krutko believes it is he, and not the elected officials accountable for the spending of public money, who should decide whether the information provided is appropriate. For far too many years, suspect “job creation” claims have been embraced by local elected officials unwilling to ask the university presidents, business leaders and politicians who sit on SPARK’s Board of Directors to produce data which are audited and verified by an outside agency.
Now, Council member and mayoral candidate Sabra Briere, a graphic designer, has taken it upon herself to meet with Mr. Krutko to reconcile the discrepancies revealed in two recent job creation reports. One report was prepared by the MEDC for Gov. Snyder (it includes SPARK’s job creation numbers between 2006-2013) and SPARK’s own 2013 Annual Report, which claims job creation numbers posted between 2006-2013 which are 95 percent higher than those included in the MEDC report.
We believe Council member Briere is acting unprofessionally by attempting to appoint herself Council’s representative in this matter—particularly after being loudly upbraided by Mr. Krukto during the June 16 meeting after her vote to table a proposed allocation to SPARK. If Council wishes to have a representative meet with Mr. Krutko, the group should choose that individual and vote on the motion.
In the meantime, the public should applaud the members of City Council who are demanding accountability. What has been a public gravy train now finally requires that SPARK officials provide audited, credible job creation/retention data which document the return on the public’s multi-million dollar investment.