KEDCO plays politics
Editorial - Saturday, November 04, 2006 @ 09:00
Well, well. Look what KEDCO pulled out of its back pocket 11 days before voters
go to the polls to elect a new city government that may alter the way the city's
economic development agency operates: not one, not two, not three, but four new
economic development announcements.
Make that five. One new initiative wasn't actually formally announced by KEDCO.
Still, whether it's four or five, it's a lot. And while none of the projects
announced by KEDCO is a big glitzy development, together they represent a
significant chunk of new business and new tax revenue. And possibly new jobs as
well.
New Empire of Aurora plans to build a $5.5-million, 100,000-sq.-ft. office and
industrial facility on six acres in the St. Lawrence Business Park on Highway
15.
Duke Energy, the company that owns Union Gas, has purchased three acres in the
Cataraqui Industrial Park on Gardiners Road for a 24,000-sq.-ft. office that will serve as the company's regional headquarters.
Kingston-based Peach Homes, owner of Coffee & Co., has purchased land in the
Cataraqui Industrial Park for a 12,000-sq.-ft. facility on Fortune Crescent.
Construction has just begun on the Barriefield Animal Hospital's new
5,000-sq.-ft. building in the St. Lawrence Business Park.
Ryder Trucking plans to open a new warehouse in the Cataraqui Industrial Park
next August.
If all this new development comes to pass, and there is no reason to suspect it
won't, then KEDCO has done well. Frank Casamatta, vice-president of New Empire,
told The Whig-Standard that KEDCO had a significant influence on his company's
decision to move into this area. The agency "gave me inspiration that maybe the
next boom town is Kingston," he said.
It's not the content of the KEDCO announcements that's at issue. Any expansion
of the city's commercial tax base is good news for the community. And KEDCO
deserves praise for its role.
But the timing is disturbing. The agency has come under serious scrutiny during
the past few weeks by the candidates running for mayor and city council.
Mayoralty contender Kevin George, who would cancel the agency's $2.3-million in
city funding, said he found it "interesting" that KEDCO made the announcements
during the final stretch of a campaign that has raised questions about the
agency's effectiveness, accountability and board composition. Candidate Rick
Downes has also attacked KEDCO.
KEDCO general manager Jeff Garrah told The Whig that the agency wanted to
release the information about the new developments earlier but was waiting for
permission from the companies. "It's not as if we were stacking all these up ...
and wanted to release them in the middle of an election campaign," he said.
No? That's how it looks. And as Garrah knows from his days on Parliament HIll,
perception is important in politics.
In contrast to KEDCO, other institutions that may soon have important
announcements to make locally - Queen's University and the federal government -
are holding off until after the Nov. 13 vote.
KEDCO could have waited too. By releasing the information now, the agency looks
as if it's scrambling to impress the politicians who will decide its fate.
By not waiting until the race is over, KEDCO has become a political player. At
election time, an objective economic agency should be seen and not heard.