Economic Development

By John Frederick

Humboldt county needs to develop an economic development strategy. This will diversify our economy. We need to polish the rough gems already available, such as the airports, harbor, and railroad. Government has to provide incentives for businesses to succeed. We need to develop new and emerging industries and assist in the development of public facilities.

The Boardof Supervisors should be providing leadership to make sure that such a ballot initiative is successful. The state of California is not inclined to return this local money back to local governments any time soon. There is currently legislation in Sacramento that would return 10% of the porperty tax to the cities and counties over ten years so that it would be completely restored. No one in Sacramento appears very excited about passage of this bill.

Sacramento currently gets our personal income taxes, corporate taxes, gasoline taxes, sales taxes, DMV fees and other sources of income. It is time that local government was allowed to decide how to spend our taxes, not politicians in Sacramento. The current loss to Humboldt county is $10 million.

The county should also be seeking $250 million in Revenue Bond ability. This can be secured through our elected officials in Sacramento. Revenue Bonds are financially neutral and do not cost the state any money. They do not cost the local taxpayers any money either, as they are paid for by the revenue created by the project. As an example, the Port of Cleveland built the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum with Revenue Bonds.

The local airports have the potential to create a source of income for the county as well as creating jobs. The airports have 100's of acres of available land for commercial and industrial development. However, the ground leases are not long enough for amortization of loans or depreciation of assets as allowed by the IRS. I will pursue the extension of the lease periods at the airports to help the development of appropriate businesses and the concurrent creation of jobs.

This area was first settled as a transportation center for the gold mines. It was the only available natural harbor for a 500 mile stretch of the coast. Humboldt Bay is the closest port to the Asian markets. The large ocean freight carriers use the ports with the best turn-around time. The freighters make money hauling goods. Think of trucks. They don't make any money sitting still. When a ship comes into Humboldt Bay, it can be loading or unloading cargo in 45 minutes. That's a selling point for this port. It has been projected that by the year 2014 the major ports on the West Coast will be our of available land to develop. Opportunity is knocking and we need to take advantage. Plenty of sites for a marine terminal are available on the bay. With the revenue bonding capability in place, it will be possible to carry this project to completion. A single berth fully operational marine terminal should generate $10 million a year to the agency handling the facility. A marine terminal will also create 1200 to 3000 jobs. Most of this jobs will be in transportation which is the highest paying job sector. Developing the port will increase the cash flow to the county and create jobs for our local population.

When elected, I will pursue these issues with the energy they deserve.