On Monday, August 28, 2023 the City Council voted on a future economic development policy. In this new policy they gave their power of the purse to the unelected City Manager.
You could also call economic development Corporate welfare, but it is really the textbook definition of Economic Fascism. We here at PPPB have discussed what Economic Fascism is and does in past articles, so I am not going to repeat it. You can go to https://www.planospoliticalpitbull.com/posts-about-council/plano-city-council-passes-more-economic-fascism and https://www.planospoliticalpitbull.com/posts-about-council/july-20th-2018 to read what PPPB has said about it. Under this Policy, the City Manager or designee has been authorized to increase or decrease the initial offer voted on by council up to 10% or $200,000, whichever is less, without council approval. “The City Manager [also] has the authorization to approve any economic development agreement with an incentive value of $100,000 or less, as long as the agreement meets the requirements of this Policy Statement... All items approved under the City Manager’s administrative authority must be net revenue positive based on the Economic Impact Report.” You can find a link to the policy at https://plano.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=8631&MeetingID=3436. The resident who removed the policy from the consent agenda had a problem with an unelected person having the power of the purse, and we at PPPB agree. The power to appropriate money is a power strictly for an elected legislative body. They are the most accountable and the closest to the people. The City Manager (no matter how wonderful he is) is not elected, therefore he is not accountable to the voters. The City Council should at least have the City Manger report to them in executive session on economic development contracts he is negotiating, and at least get the Mayor’s approval to hand out Corporate Welfare. This is J. Romano for Plano’s Political Pit Bull signing off.
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