Council Member Washington Discusses Economic Development

By Dave Freneaux

CentralSpeaks.com was able to sit with Council Member Washington this week and discuss the comments made by Economic Development Foundation President Wade Giles in last week's newspaper.  Mr. Washington agrees that the City has been supportive of Economic Development initiatives prior to this fiscal year, but asserts that the new Council is supportive as well.  Washington readily acknowledges that the Foundation is made up entirely of volunteers and he recognizes the need to have a motivated group spearheading this effort in Central.  His disagreement with Mr. Giles is that Washington feels that the $150,000 City of Central budget for economic development expenditures is a show of support for the Foundation.  The funds are not donated to the Foundation, rather they are authorized to be spent by the Mayor in behalf of the City for purposes related to Development.
 
The major difference between Mr. Washington and Mr. Giles seems to come down to the definition of "support".  Mr. Washington maintains that a City budget, including funds to hire an Economic Development Consultant to work directly for the Mayor, and a willingness for Council members to attend Foundation meetings is a show of support.  Mr. Giles indicated that "support" has little to do with money and much to do with the negative reaction of the Council and the efforts of the Council to influence policy within the Foundation.  Mr. Washington, recognizing the differing views of the two parties, has committed to working with Mayor Watts and the Council to come up with an approach to bring the parties back together and resume Economic Development efforts in Central.