Editorial: Fuddy-duddy thinking

Back when conservatives were conservative, local and state government were not playing the economic development game per se. The Storm Lake Chamber of Commerce and Storm Lake Area Development Corporation — now merged into Storm Lake United — tended to the needs of business and industry. City Hall was to provide the things on which commerce can be built: streets, storm sewers, affordable water. Keep taxes low and streets safe. Let the chamber work with landlords and banks to recruit what Lake Avenue needs.

It worked out well enough for a long time.

That attitude changed. The city over the tenure of the current administration, and with the encouragement of the city council, has built up its economic development efforts while cutting support for Storm Lake United. City Hall hired the former director of SLU. The county and city subsidized the Iowa Lakes Corridor of Opportunity, a four-county economic development consortium based in Spencer under direction of the state. The city hired an outside consultant to recruit business to Storm Lake. It has created a public relations arm on social media so the city can attempt to control public perception.

Downtown streets flood. Property tax askings go up and up. Water rates are rising several times faster than inflation. Existing businesses struggling to keep up wonder where the economic development is for them with water in the basement.

For economic development, you first must set a foundation on service and trust. That starts with paved streets that drain and water bills that won’t choke you. City Hall should stick to its knitting, which means providing basic public safety and expected amenities at a reasonable cost.

We can’t really see what regional economic development operations or hired outside consultants have done for Storm Lake. We can see that our costs continue to go up. We also can recognize that the city, in the name of economic development, is trying to spin its own message in the face of the daunting facts that taxes and fees are rising while the level of service is not.

Storm Lake United did a much better job of marketing The City Beautiful. It was instrumental in passing the bond issue that paved the way for King’s Pointe Resort. It played a major role in restoring the lake, thanks to the efforts of the late Gary Lalone and others. The city played a fundamental role but it was the people who brought the city along. Because of openness and transparency, the public bought in.

The city did not attract our basic industry, meatpacking, to Storm Lake. Citizens First National Bank President George Schaller did during a chance meeting on a train ride from Chicago. The Schallers also helped build the hospital, another major economic driver. The city did not attract Buena Vista College to Storm Lake, the Presbyterian Church did, and it never has been the city that kept the university alive. The Schallers and Ballous and Macks did, and then Harold Walter Siebens. The city’s work in our biggest economic projects was to provide the right conditions for these projects to flourish.

Tyson will do what it is going to do with water rates locked in by contract. Lake Avenue will take care of itself. If the market can support a men’s clothing store, one will crop up. The Storm Lake Times Pilot and KAYL are happy to inform the public about all the tremendous things going on at the Buena Vista County Fair and the Fourth of July. The city should make more effort to inform citizens about public safety, which promotes trust and thus development.

Storm Lake United is eager to coordinate and promote tourism marketing. The city should focus on its basic responsibilities that go unfulfilled. As Storm Lake goes, so goes Buena Vista County, which also should support Storm Lake United’s efforts.

Our views, admittedly, are old-fashioned. They must be, because local and regional government continue to expand their footprint and reach farther into our pockets. Clearly, the officials in charge of things at the courthouse and city hall do not understand all these fancy economic development schemes, otherwise they would not be enmeshed in litigation. If they were paying attention to business, they would not be in court.

City Hall’s business is not to usurp the role of business, but that’s what is happening. Conservatives used to believe that business knows business better than politicians and bureaucrats. The role of government is to provide streets and sewer and a level regulatory playing field, to do necessary things that private enterprise cannot or will not do, and then get out of the way and get off our backs. That way of thinking is quaint.