Saturday, October 15, 2011

John Hammer on the White Street Landfill and Ulturnagen: July 30, 2009

Why would legitimate businesses offering good paying jobs,
looking to relocate to Greensboro,
want to move to a city that openly considers
what could eventually be massive tax increases?
.
"The stupidity of the special City Council briefing ...cannot be exaggerated.

…representatives of Ulturnagen (which according to their own testimony has never done anything like this), with the aid of $500 million from Greensboro, was going to take Greensboro's garbage and turn it into a host of saleable items…if Greensboro were willing to pay for the construction, take all the financial risks, waive all the fees and permits and build high tech asphalt and concrete plants on the site, then [Ulturnagen] would be willing to share a portion of the profits with Greensboro.

...During the period from January, when the council traditionally holds a weekend retreat, to June, when the council passed the budget, the mayor never managed to schedule a council retreat or, for that matter, hold a comprehensive discussion of the budget.

But when a bunch of guys put together a limited liability corporation to turn garbage into cash, then the City Council has to call a special meeting to discuss whether or not to give them $500 million to build a pipe dream out at the White Street landfill.

…Greensboro is struggling to get by on less revenue because of the economic downturn. So the idea that the city could just decide to spend $500 million on a startup company, and technology that is not being used by any other city that the principals of this company could name in the world, is beyond belief.

Also consider the $75 million hotel on Lee Street, where Johnson was so hot to get to Washington to help a woman raise $75 million for a $75 million project that she had to fly up there on a private jet. Did anyone notice that when the free trip to Washington was taken off the table there was no effort to take a commercial flight or even drive?"

No Pots Of Gold In White Street Garbage
John Hammer
Rhinoceros Times

2 comments:

W.E. Heasley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
W.E. Heasley said...

Abner Doon:

Your post begs this question: is not privatization of waste removal the initial step?

Private waste removal companies, given that price would then be the rationing agent, cause the best allocation of scarce resources with alternative uses?

Would not the private waste removal companies be forced due to efficient allocation of resources to find the most efficient landfill disposal and the most efficient recycling opportunities?

Is it not best to remove the politics of city government regarding waste removal and delete the politics in favour of the economic realm?

Stated alternatively, why is Greensboro city government in the business of waste removal, waste disposal, and waste recycling when private companies can handle the service?

Your point about Ulturnagen needs restated: Ulturnagen is merely an economic rent seeker [special interest] acting as a very well-focused special interest seeking tax payer money from the highly diffused and unrepresented tax payer. There is no economic profit involved other than a profit recirculating taxpayer dollars and showing the taxpayer dollars as “profit”.

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