Economic Development Board’s rigged recommendation on joining Clean Air Coalition

The only "outside experts" the city’s Economic Development Board consulted when considering the impact that joining the Cleaning Air Coalition would have on attracting new business to Kyle were representatives of the coalitions’s umbrella agency.

That’s exactly like asking the fox for recommendations on how to build the henhouse.

The Central Texas Clean Air Coalition is part of the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) and, according to the official minutes of the Economic Development Board’s May 10 meeting at which this subject was discussed, the only two persons to address the board on the subject were Andrew Hoakzema, CAPCOG’s air quality control manager and the head cheerleader of the Clean Air Coalition, and Chris Schrenck, CAPCOG’s director of planning and economic development, neither of whom was going to be objective on the issue.

Immediately after their presentations, according to the minutes, board member Harish Malkani moved the Economic Development Committee recommend to the City Council that the city join the Clean Air Coalition, not as a supporting member, as the majority of the council wished, but a full-fledged general member. That motion was seconded by Tony Spano and approved unanimously (board members Tessa Schmidtzinsky and Don Tracy did not attend the meeting).

The charge from the city council to the Economic Development Board was clear: Determine whether joining the Clean Air Coalition would have a detrimental effect on attracting new business to Kyle. Does anyone think that simply talking to representatives of the Clean Air Coalition will provide the objective, thorough analysis that was requested by the City Council? Give me a break!

It seems to me a more thorough examination on this subject could have been presented by inviting representatives and seeking testimony from Austin area businesses who actually make relocation/expansion decisions or perhaps educators from the business schools at either UT/Austin or Texas State who may have actually studied this subject.

But, sadly, that was not the case. The Economic Development Board’s idea of an objective look on whether to join the Clean Air Coalition is to listen only to the chief proponents of the Clean Air Coalition.

That makes the board’s recommendation absolutely worthless.