Commissioner Seal Speaks Out On Building New County Complex & EDOC / Chamber Cost Effectiveness

Commissioner David Seal, District 9 writes:

Two current issues come to mind that I consider newsworthy with respect to Jefferson County Government, one is the Facilities Committee Meeting this Thursday at 10:30 AM. The other is the CHAMBER/EDOC issue of cost-effectiveness. Both of these issues raise important questions for county residents and elected officials.

County Office Complex
The Facilities Committee will meet at 10:30 AM to consider the county office complex and other items, a time at which most people are working and will be unable to attend the meeting. I have had more calls on the office complex issue than the current FY budget or any other item up for consideration, including calls from Dandridge proper and all areas of the county. So why is the meeting scheduled at this hour of the day? No call that I have received has been in favor of a county office complex, the extension of the county debt, or the tax increase that would be required to cover the 10 million dollar bond issue for such a complex. Citizens are still expressing their approval of the budget cuts made in the last budget cycle and do not wish to see the trend reversed to a pattern of tax-and-spend.

I put a simple question to my constituents: “Given the two choices of spending money to repair and maintain downtown buildings and that of spending 10 million dollars on a new office complex, which would you choose”? All have chosen the option to maintain and repair existing historic downtown buildings. In short, citizens do not want to pay the cost of this office complex, and I agree. I can not speak for all elected officials and all citizens. However, very few decision makers have expressed a desire to abandon downtown Dandridge and extend the debt of Jefferson County. We have a historic and valuable downtown area that deserves preservation and respectful treatment. Everyone needs to understand that there is no evidence that the concept of a county office complex originated with County Commission. A document titled “Jefferson County Government Services Complex” (dated February 2016) that outlines, among other things, the market value of County Buildings in downtown Dandridge, cost estimates for up-keep of county buildings, an estimate of building a new office complex, and projections of property tax increases to cover the cost of the new complex will be considered in the Facilities Committee this Thursday morning. Several questions surround this document. Who wrote the unsigned document that details the cost of maintaining county buildings? What source of data are the cost estimates based on? Were the cost estimates of building repair based on one or multiple expert opinions? What will be the status of county buildings if a complex vacates county offices from downtown Dandridge? What will the overall effect be on business in the downtown area? In addition to the cost projections, the report refers to a mold condition in one of the buildings. In open meetings, I have called for written documentation such as lab or other scientific reports that may verify the mold condition. No such reports have surfaced as of the time and date of this article; and no formal proposals or written estimates have surfaced for mold remediation cost.

Chamber/EDOC
Several questions trouble me with the policies that we have adopted on economic development. At present, most of our economic development outreach is channeled through The Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Oversight Committee (EDOC). All of those activities are funded with a combination of public and private resources. Therefore, all of our efforts in economic development, paid for by public funds, must be made as effective as possible, be consistent with the values of the citizens, and respect the communities in which development occurs. Finally, in keeping with the founding principals of this country, the process of making public policy, including the decision making process of economic development policy, should be open to the public. At present, meetings and records of these two non-profit organizations are not open to the public. The public should be engaged and included by economic development organizations when policies are proposed, debated, and adopted that will effect the lives of citizens and communities.

Questions to consider:

Why do we as citizens fund non-profit organizations that decide public economic policy on behalf of Jefferson County that do not hold open meetings and maintain open public records?

What is the cost-benefit of funding non-profits for economic development? How much have we gotten back in county revenue from the 3 million dollars we have invested in Chamber EDOC in the last 8-10 years?

According to records made available to the public through the ongoing open records suit in Chancery Court, Chamber EDOC spent at least $21250.00 on lobby efforts in Nashville during the 2014 – 2015 fiscal year, presumably to suppress open meetings and open records requirements and create a legal environment that makes it more difficult for citizens to seek relief in a court of law to require open records and open meetings. Why assert this effort to keep records and meetings closed to the public? What information is so important to suppress?

How much more taxpayer money will be spent by Chamber / EDOC on lobby efforts this fiscal year?

If we continue to invest public resources, do we insist on some form of verifiable results? Some information offered does suggest progress. However, most information that is cited on economic development in Jefferson County is nearly impossible to verify. For example, the tourism data that has been presented during the 2015 calendar year is generated by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. After contacting this department of Tennessee Government last April, I learned that their tourism data is based on a “secret model” used by the U.S. Tourist Association in Washington D.C., a lobby organization that exists for the benefit of the tourist industry. I have always questioned the validity of information that is drawn from a proprietary model of calculation with unknown factors.

Do we reserve any revenue from the Hotel / Motel Tax for the purchase of industrial property? Do we risk taxpayer money on such a speculative purchase while the 11 county region is flooded with industrial property? The economic development region that I refer to currently has just under 8000 acres of available land that would be in direct competition with Jefferson County, most of which is equipped with high speed internet, utilities and rail lines. From a public policy perspective, we have a long list of questions to answer. Whatever economic development policy we choose needs to be respectful of and include the priorities expressed by the citizens of the county.

David Seal
Jefferson County Commission, District 9