Development focus not new

I was pleasantly surprised to read in the June 9 paper that Mayor David Condon and the Spokane City Council have decided to renew the city’s focus on economic development incentives. I say renew because, contrary to how the article presented it, this is not a new endeavor for the city.

I was the city’s incentives specialist for a number of years, but don’t believe anyone ever had that title after I retired in 2009. Reinstating this important program area now is an investment that will benefit our city and its citizens for years to come.

I was also pleased to read the city may start supporting its incentives program with an economic impact analysis, a fair and effective way to gauge which projects to support. However, incentives often backfire (especially when used to attract major employers) if beneficiaries take the money and run, leaving town when other grass appears greener.

I hope the city will include claw-back provisions to ensure that incentive recipients owe a duty back in the form of job retraining, repayments, etc., should they decide to relocate before the city has fully reaped the economic benefits the incentive was intended to produce.

Susanne Croft

Spokane