A2POLITICO: Economic Development Groupies Circle The Bentleys to Defend SPARK

by P.D. Lesko

AT A RECENT mayoral candidate forum, unabashed supporters of “crony capitalism”—what President Obama’s former economic expert Dr. Lawrence Summers called the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s programs—defended Ann Arbor SPARK, touting the organization’s accomplishments and the city’s need for economic development.

Council member Christopher Talyor purported that SPARK “creates a culture of entrepreneurship, and lots of companies would not be here if it weren’t for SPARK.” Lots? A  pol who defines return on investment as if asking for a heap ‘o taters doesn’t inspire confidence. Then again, in a 2012 op-ed published by AnnArbor.com the Ward 3 Council member understated the city’s total debt by $215,000,000. Mayoral candidate Talyor has also repeatedly assured voters that “I’m not in favor of boondoggles.” The phrase conjures Tricky Dick Nixon: “I am not a crook.”

Christopher Taylor has voted in favor of a bushel of boondoggles; he has defended and endorsed them ($50M for a new City Hall, $50M for a new underground parking garage, General Fund money for SPARK, Percent for Art program and millage and votes for no bid contracts come immediately to mind).

Since reformers on City Council and the media—including this newspaper—have begun calling for SPARK to provide job creation numbers audited by an outside agency—Ward 2 Council member Sally Hart Petersen has backed off her support of Ann Arbor SPARK, per se. She’s still “astounded” that Ann Arbor has “no economic strategy” and a “lack of leadership” on economic development issues. However, she is pushing for an outside audit of SPARK’s job creation/job retention numbers.

I am no fan of my own Ward 1 Council member Sabra Briere whom I feel often votes as if the most important thing were that she serve on City Council instead of serving the people who put her there. However, Council member Briere deserves credit for admitting that she doesn’t know what SPARK does. Does SPARK create new jobs? “We don’t know,” Briere has said. The Emperor has no clothes.

Over the past year, Ward 3 Council member Steve Kunselman has shown he can weather political attacks in order to force the mayor, DDA Board, City Clerk and City Attorney to adhere to state and local laws. Council member Kunselman refers to SPARK as “crony capitalism.” He recently said, “When you focus on infrastructure, I think that’s the number one issue for economic development.” This is the position of President Barack Obama and the subject of a March 2014 policy memo from the Progressive Policy Institute.

“Fixing existing roads and bridges, or building new ones—generate positive spillover effects for the rest of the economy,” say Progressive Policy Institute researchers Diana Carew and Dr. Michael Mandel.

At the June 16 Council meeting, SPARK CEO Paul Krutko claimed Ann Arbor has regained all of the jobs lost in the Great Recession and that the unemployment rate (4.8 percent) was the best “in the United….” he caught himself and then finished his sentence, “in the state.”

Steve Kunselman grinned at Krutko and quipped, “Thank God for you.” Then, Kunselman credited U-M for local job growth.

Ann Arbor SPARK’s Board is populated by university presidents, business leaders, politicians and even a VP at The Ann Arbor News. A bank president signed SPARK’s 2013 Annual Report. Should an audit reveal SPARK’s numbers are bogus, the organization should lose its local funding. Circling the Bentleys to defend SPARK is unwise; it implies public money needn’t be protected and that the public trust doesn’t matter.