On this week’s “Eye on New Mexico” on Channel 4, KKOB, Chris Ramirez talked to Commissioner de la Cruz and Marcos Gonzales of the Bernalillo County Economic Development Department about economic development and the Commissioner’s trip to France. My interview starts at the 4 minute mark and de la Cruz defends the $20K spent on the trip after that.
So far, the Commissioner admits that no specific projects have resulted from the trip. I’m sure we’ll be notified if that changes.
The obvious question is why the city and county have duplicate economic development staffs.
My hometown of Oak Park, IL, organized a public-private economic development partnership in the 1970s: a nonprofit corporation with local business in lieu of hiring a municipal economic development staff. This group’s first action was to persuade local government to change local laws to create a business-friendly environment and set up a fast-track zoning and permitting process for new and expanded businesses.
If city and county officials could refrain from actively killing jobs, that would be a good start.
This is exactly what I’d hoped Mayor Berry would do. If he had addressed zoning and permitting issues, I think he would have been a successful mayor. Instead, he’s presided over a terrible economy, police issues, and continues to push the misguided ART.