Op-eds

"It's Time for a Courageous Budget"
“Who Will Shine in a New Wheaton?”
“Bills would add accountability on D.C. tax incentives for businesses.”

WAMU 88.5 FM (Local NPR): “It’s Time for a Courageous Budget”
Target audience: DC Councilmembers
Goal: Restore budget cuts for important government programs

This is my story of hope for D.C. It doesn't start with hope though. It begins with tragedy, but it ends with hope.

When I see the cuts in Mayor Vincent Gray's budget, I realize the tragedy is bigger than the story of cuts to any one program. With its severe cuts to Health and Human Services and small business support, the mayor's budget does not reflect the shared priorities of a lot of people in this city. They're definitely not my priorities.

So what's my story about? Picture this: Small, local businesses line streets in a community with mixed-income housing within walking distance. Business owners know their customers as neighbors, their employees live nearby, and residents and small businesses recognize their mutual stake in strengthening the community's quality of life. People work hard and live in decent, affordable housing –- the type of community that celebrates what we have in common and the connection between thriving small businesses and stable housing.

But here's what's standing in the way: If the D.C. Council doesn't restore $1.7 million in cuts to small business technical assistance, hundreds of small business owners who create jobs and revenue for the city lose out. This revenue could support Health and Human Services, including programs that preserve affordable housing for D.C.'s most vulnerable residents. The mayor's budget already cuts $18 million from the local Housing Production Trust Fund -- a key funding source to help D.C. residents tackle the city's growing affordable housing crisis.

And that's not even all of it. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in microloans no longer find their way into D.C.'s economy, not to mention the money that small businesses put back into it when they locally source their goods and products.

It's time for a courageous budget that recognizes how all the pieces can fit together to strengthen, not weaken, what is around us. Support progressive tax revenue, and support the restoration of funding to programs that foster thriving small businesses and promote stable housing in the District.

If we build our story of hope together, in the process, we can start to really understand what's at risk. It's not this program or that program -- it's our community.

Wheaton Patch: “Who Will Shine in a New Wheaton?”
Target audience: Community residents of Wheaton
Goal: 100 online petition signatures through Change.org

A few months ago, I walked into the Emanuel Christian Library to talk to Wheaton small business owner Jose Gonzalez.

For years, Jose has sold a variety of Christian books, compact discs, and DVDs in the Wheaton Triangle. I asked Jose for his take on the small business community in Wheaton and the prospects for its survival given developer B.F. Saul’s plans to redevelop the Triangle, which include new offices, a hotel, and high‐rise apartments. “It’s because of all of us small business owners that Wheaton shines,” Jose said.

At first, I assumed B.F. Saul and Montgomery County shared Jose’s point of view. The new Wheaton Sector Plan, a planning document outlining the area’s future, champions Wheaton as a shopping destination with ethnic restaurants and “unique local small business offerings.” In its project bid, B.F. Saul argues that small businesses like the Showcase Aquarium and The Little Bitts Shop must be preserved. The County’s project goals reference eclectic small businesses as one of Wheaton’s strengths and a basis for attracting new businesses and residents.

Yet inexplicably, as B.F. Saul and Montgomery County race to finalize a redevelopment agreement in the next few months, I still have no idea what their commitment is to help small businesses and the broader community shine in a revitalized Wheaton. Adding insult to injury, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett yesterday proposed to support the Wheaton Redevelopment Program and B.F. Saul with more than $40 million dollars of public taxpayer money to realize the project and defray its costs.

I recognize the challenges of balancing the financial realities of redevelopment planning in a down economy with accommodating the needs and concerns of a community that has fallen on hard times. Yet, somewhere along the way, consequential discussions about fairness and shared prosperity became eclipsed by B.F. Saul’s vision that has framed legitimate concerns regarding the negative impacts of its project as of secondary importance.

Small business owners and Montgomery County families deserve to know how their livelihoods will be protected before a public subsidy is approved for the project and before a final redevelopment agreement is signed. More than 500 County residents and small businesses have joined the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, calling for important investments including a fund to help small businesses survive years of construction, a plan to relocate and enhance community services set for displacement in the Mid‐County Regional Services Center, and local job sourcing of new employment opportunities related to the redevelopment.

We need your help to make the Wheaton redevelopment project a model of equitable development in the DC region – now more than ever. Join the customers of Wheaton’s beloved small businesses who have signed our petition for community benefits. If you live in Montgomery County, click here and sign our new online Change.org petition to join our cause.

Washington Post: “Bills would add accountability on D.C. tax incentives for businesses.” (Ghost written.) 
Target audience: DC residents and Councilmembers
Goal: Passage of accountability legislation

The District needs to develop a comprehensive economic development strategy ‐‐ and urgently. At a time when city revenues are declining, sound public policies governing economic development dollars could go a long way in maximizing the economic impact of investments supported by local tax dollars.

It took a diverse coalition of D.C. nonprofits, small‐business leaders and activists to halt the proposed $25 million tax abatement to relocate the headquarters of global security firm Northrop Grumman to the District of Columbia. Now is the time for the District to take concrete steps in a new direction to better track the money spent on economic development, including tax breaks, and to better measure the benefits in return. Only when these steps are taken will D.C. residents stand to make a more informed argument as to whether smart investments are being made in our communities.

Two pieces of legislation pending before the D.C. Council would be good first steps toward a balanced approach to economic development. The Exemptions and Abatements Information Requirements Act would require analysis when a tax break is under consideration to assess whether the subsidy is necessary for the new development to occur. It also would mandate reporting of the economic benefits to the District as a result of the subsidy. The second bill, the Unified Economic Development Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, would require any institution receiving economic incentives in excess of $75,000 to report on specific performance measures, including job growth, purchasing of local goods and services, and business retention and expansion.

Both proposals stand to be improved by better defining what the District would receive in return for these incentives, such as the number of jobs created for D.C. residents, whether jobs created were part‐time or full time and the benefits associated with these jobs.

Armed with this knowledge, D.C.'s economic development strategy would hopefully shift from big subsidies for a favored few to
strengthening small locally owned businesses ‐‐ the backbone of our economy. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, D.C. businesses with fewer than 500 employees created almost 13,000 jobs in 2005 and 2006, while larger D.C. businesses cut more than 6,000 positions. Two of five jobs were created by businesses with under 20 employees. These new local jobs mean more foot traffic at locally owned businesses that also rely on other local businesses, creating an economic multiplier that is two to four times greater than money spent at non‐local businesses.

If we know what the city is spending and what it is getting in return, this will support D.C.'s downtown area as well as its neighborhoods. This kind of balanced approach ‐‐ a real comprehensive economic‐development strategy ‐‐ would generate tax revenue, create jobs for D.C. residents and meet retail needs toward a vibrant local economy.

go beyond the surface. | akosiewicz@gmail.com