Your Opinion: County should end contract with Chamber

Dear Editor:

Your account of the County Commission is chilling in its simplicity. The commission will go to any lengths to give tax money to the Chamber of Commerce. If they recognize a problem, as everyone does, why do they wait another year to change anything? The obvious answer is that the commissioners want to give as much money as possible to the Chamber regardless of any benefit to citizens. Commissioners are not serving citizens, but serving the Chamber.

Sam Bushman is the lead representative of the Chamber on the commission. He was also the treasurer of the Transformation tax campaign. The Transformation proposal was an attempt to increase taxes and give control of the money to the Chamber by appointing their adherents to the controlling board. The Chamber would not have put him in that position unless he was trusted 100 percent by them. He has certainly maneuvered to give the Chamber $150,000 of tax money to add to the $175,000 squandered by the city. For many years there have been no jobs added to our county. With the closing of the Donnelley Printing plant there has been a net loss of jobs.

The Chamber has contrived a fairy tale of how they added $600,000 to the economy. Economic development means adding businesses that employ people. The Chamber has not added an appreciable number of jobs to Cole County. The agreement for the commission and the Chamber to come to a "mutually agreeable solution" is only an opportunity for Bushman to give a sweetheart deal to the Chamber.

Why should taxpayers continue to see tax dollars given away? Why should the commission reach any agreement with the Chamber? If the Chamber has any interest in bringing jobs to Cole County they will still use their resources such as any buildings they own to attract industry. The commission should eliminate the give away to the Chamber immediately. The attempt to look a little better by Sept. 1 is an attempt to aid Hoelscher and Scheperle "s 2016 election campaign.

The idea of giving money to the Chamber to recruit retail businesses to Jefferson City is ridiculous. Numerous fast food restaurants, Sam's Club and Harbor Freight have recently located in Jefferson City.

If there is a market for a store, they will find us without pushing money to the Chamber.

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