Stop me if you’ve heard this one before! It echoes today’s situation EXACTLY. Which means none of these people have learned a single lesson.
Back in 2004 – while the LEDC was having tunnel vision about building a “business complex” and spending countless hundreds of hours on committees, sub-committees, task forces, consultants, and all the rest, the FREE MARKET was creating jobs all around them. So much so, that some of the companies could not get any workers!
2/16/2004 minutes: Talbot stated that he had a meeting last week with representatives of Specialty Brands [now known as Ajinomoto Foods] concerning their shortage of SEVENTY EMPLOYEES, which they think is becoming critical to their operations here in Lampasas.
Once again (as today), the LEDC is spinning their wheels and wasting MILLIONS OF DOLLARS when there are companies RIGHT NOW who can’t get enough workers! If you don’t see the insanity in that, then your name is either Misti Talbert or Finley deGraffenreid.
You know who else opened up in 2004 and is mentioned repeatedly in the minutes? The Wal-Mart Supercenter. They are now the third-largest employer in town (184 employees). You know who else was ramping up in 2004? Oil States. They were ALSO having trouble finding workers!
As I read the LEDC minutes between 2000 and 2005, the LEDC morons like Mike Talbot are literally mentioning the “lightning speed” with which Wal-Mart is building their store (that is a quote). They also yammer about the expansion of Specialty Brands (Windsor/Ajinomoto) plant AND the expansion of Oil States!
The LEDC was busy jerking around and spending millions on their useless sandbox while the free market created hundreds of jobs right under their noses! Apparently the irony of this was lost on everyone.
The EXACT SAME THING is happening today! Misti and the other clowns are wasting ANOTHER $2.75 million on this thing [current grand total of $7.1 million and counting] while every single business in town is desperate for workers!
Our “economic development director” Mandy “copy/paste” Walsh is aware of this since she is literally REPOSTING THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS!!!
Absolute insanity.
City council needs to:
(1) Dissolve the LEDC for good – tough to do while TJ Monroe is mayor, since she incestuously sits on the LEDC board as well.
(2) Sell the 150 acres while land prices are outrageous and at least get SOME money back (perhaps $2 million back to the City)
(3) Eliminate the position of Economic Development Director (savings to City of over $100,000 per year)
(4) Ban Misti Talbert from ever holding any position in this town again. Ditto for fellow LEDC clown TJ Monroe.
(5) Eliminate the 1/4% sales tax that has been in effect for two decades now and which funds the slush fund these morons have played with uselessly for 22 years.
(6) Roll back the electrical code from the current ridiculous 2020 version back to 2014 – which is used by Austin and other big cities.
Let the free market do its thing. Get moron bureaucrats and Nerf-job clowns out of the way.