a take on the med mart from the czar

The Tech Czar (how does one get such a cool name?) provides a fascinating glimpse of an insider's view of an economic development deal in Cleveland.

What can be learned as Youngstown moves forward? The czar ends with:

"Maybe we should build the Medical Mart in Youngstown seeing how the key piece to Mayor Jackson’s economic development plan is a non-binding agreement with a city 75 miles to our south. How exactly are these two struggling cities supposed to do a development deal?

And here is my problem with how our current leadership represents and implements economic development. As far as they are concerned building a large public works project (always under the pretense of a private – public partnership) is economic development. And this, of course, is faulty logic. Economic development is getting the 35-year male from Hough a job. It is helping a 24-year old single mother secure a career. No one though wants to do the dirty work. Instead, we build big white elephants and call it progress."

more here.