Has anyone seen my clown suit?
Speaking of One Southern Indiana, an as usual, my colleague (and campaign manager) Jeff hits the sweet spot over at Facebook:
"Irony Alert ... Columbus Chamber of Commerce study says downtown development and increased public transit are primary strategies to attract and retain talent. I wonder if Michael Dalby will call them delusional on his first day?”
One Southern Indiana chief to resign; Michael Dalby takes similar position in Columbus, Ohio, by David A. Mann (News and Tribune)The fact is, he might not. When the symphony cuts your check, you play waltzes by Strauss; at Ryman, it’s the pedal steel.
Michael Dalby, president and CEO of economic development agency One Southern Indiana, announced he is leaving for a similar position in Columbus, Ohio.
Over the course of the past five years, as we've jousted early and often with 1Si's imported Texan, it has occasionally forgotten that professional front men are precisely that.
The problem here in Southern Indiana never was Dalby. It isn’t 1Si’s staff, either, many of whom know better. Rather, it was (and remains) the shadowy backroom oligarchs like Kerry Stemler, whose only known stock in trade is familiar, extractive strategies for wealth accumulation, which lead us to $4 billion bridges projects, municipalities footing air conditioning bills for billion dollar multi-nationals, and economic "development" interests playing footsie with the fundamentalist Ayatollahs at ROCK.
If ever there were a case to be made for people power, it is here and now in Southern Indiana. Unfortunately, Dalby used exactly the right word in the wrong context when he uttered his never-to-be-forgotten reference to "delusional." It's going to take a while for us to reason with the chickens who insist that voting for Colonel Sanders, Ron Grooms and Mitch Daniels is a good idea, but if I didn't believe it could be done, we'd be off for exile in Madison, Wisconsin. As the Edge once noted:
Now kings will rule and the poor will toil
And tear their hands as they tear the soil
But a day will come in this dawning age
When an honest man sees an honest wage
Or, as I wrote last night after four pints of progressive justice, bear in mind that the sad white men voting the fundamentalist oligarch's party line in Indianapolis will not succeed in reversing history. Demographics will out. Sorry Ed, sorry Ron. It's all over.
I'll say this for Dalby: Even when the rhetoric was at its most florid, I could always have a conversation with him. I wish him well in Ohio. Next time I’m in Columbus, I honestly hope it’s possible to meet with him and chat. He can even watch me drink for a while.
It’ll be fun, and maybe I won’t have to drive.
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ReplyDeleteA switch in paid spokesperson provides a clean break opportunity to change the message as well.
ReplyDeleteI'll start by saying something at least potentially positive about 1Si's future:
I have some hope that incoming board chair Vaughan Scott can begin to initiate positive change. I don't know the man and so can't personally vouch for him, but I've been told by people whose intentions and intellect I respect that he has a sincere interest in small, family run businesses. To the extent that that interest filters through 1Si policies and priorities, the organization could change for the better and begin to rescue it's credibility.
Approximately 92% of all businesses in Indiana have 25 employees or fewer. Median employer size? Five employees. Those businesses typically receive much less incentive and subsidy than do the very large businesses who do not provide as many jobs.
Leveling that playing field should be paramount in 1Si's mission. That would no doubt put them at odds with the state and national chambers, but so what? It's better long-term economics and multi-national corporations already have plenty of accumulated wealth to fight their own battles.
Many of those large corporations are currently doing just that at the expense of workers, local self-determination, and environmental, financial, and cultural sustainability. Locals need a partner to help counteract that disproportionate influence, not a lackey to do multi-national political bidding on a regional level.
It's up to 1Si which one they want to be.