President’s Message: Approaching the ballpark issue
Greetings Fellow EDC Democrats!
Paul McNamara
The E-Board is in a discussion about how the club should approach the Ballpark Issue that is currently facing City Council. We were trying to decide how best to present information to the membership as we discover it. The problem is threefold:
- There is not a lot of information about the specifics of our ballpark.
- There are numerous sources from communities where a ballpark failed.
- There are not many sources from communities where a ballpark succeeded.
Our concern was that we not jump to a conclusion (and side) without proper analysis. After some thoughtful comments, we concluded that although it may be imperfect, we are going to try and give our membership as much information as we can whether it be positive or negative. So as an introduction to future articles and links on ballparks, I want to share with you some thoughts that the E-Board received from Ed Bradley, the club’s Treasurer, that we think are worth repeating. Ed states:
Ed Bradley
“The main problem is that most people don’t have the ability to analyze complex financial proposals. It is a specific skill-set that requires exceptional financial and often legal expertise, and includes some common sense elements such as seeing through puffery and understanding if those providing economic analysis are truly un-biased. Large corporations and major developers pay top dollar for this expertise, and a well-run government should have it as well. Unfortunately, very few elected officials have it, and those that don’t either they think they have it or think they don’t need it (hubris). “
Ed goes on to say “ballpark proponents will try to follow the same path that has led us to the hotel, the Maple Street Pedestrian mall, the technology park, the new police and fire stations, the arts center, etc.
- Present the proposal first and foremost as a sound business investment with good economic justification – rosy revenues, minimal costs, lots of ancillary benefits
- Frame the decision to encourage a sense of community pride (“Escondido surely deserves this”) and/or a sense of fear (“If we don’t do this, bad things will happen …)
- Add a sense of urgency (“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity – we must act now before someone else grabs this incredible deal”)”
We have already seen some candidates take a stand. And Ed clearly outlines a familiar sales pitch. We believe this to be an important decision for our community and we believe it requires thoughtful analysis and debate. We hope we can provide that information to our membership, so we all can make the best decision for our future.
Let’s continue to turn North County from red to blue. Get active and vote!!!
Respectfully,
Paul McNamara, President