At my core I am a business person. To make money you must invest. To build a better product you must invest. To attract more customers you must invest. To keep customers you must invest. There is no successful business that does not follow these simple principles. And I believe government should be more business-like and invest. If I am going to give the government money through taxes, I want it to invest in my community’s future. The special bond election to raise the gross receipt tax by a quarter of a percent is precisely to invest in our community’s future.
Grant County has some serious challenges facing it. Juvenile crime rates are climbing. Vagrancy is a problem. Businesses are closing. And the mine will someday close. Voters are faced with a choice: do we improve the quality of life and make this area a more viable alternative or do nothing and hope for the best. In my opinion hope is not a strategy; ask Detroit if you don’t believe me.
In 1950, Detroit had 1.8 million people. The auto business was booming and it seemed to be a city that had it all. Today it has 700,000 people, high crime rates, vacant buildings and unlit streets. And it is bankrupt. When you lose over half your population, you no longer have the resources to sustain any quality of life. From school districts searching for students as families exit to public services, Detroit continues to spiral into an unsustainable position even if they get bankruptcy relief.
The Grant County special bond election will raise about $10 million and features five projects (along with their approximate costs): WNMU swimming pool and expansion ($4,300,000), Veterans’ Memorial Business and Conference Center ($1,700,000), upgrading a baseball field in Bataan Park ($600,000), improvements to the Silver City Golf Course ($300,000) and a movie theater ($3,000,000). While each project can be debated, it is the whole package that is appealing. For example, according to research, universities are economic drivers within a community. For every dollar spent, the average yield back into the economy is $2. Yet, in order for a university to contribute to its economy it must have students, faculty and staff. While our university is presently growing, we still lose students, faculty and staff because there is not enough to do within our region. We need to change this trend before it is too late. I am not as worried about the present as I am about the future. Yale University, the University of Southern California, the University of Chicago and many other universities did not heed this issue until it was almost too late. They, along with their respective urban communities, are now spending billions to revitalize the neighborhoods around them. If they would have reacted sooner, the solution would have only been in the millions. A stitch in time saves nine.
I believe that Grant County could become an excellent conference destination. For example, our facilities at WNMU are not efficiently utilized during the summer. We would like to go into the summer conference business and make better use of our facilities. But the conference business is a challenging one. The competition is difficult. A community needs to have many amenities to attract groups. Amenities like golf, movie theaters, and restaurants. Conference attendees and their accompanying family members like these sorts of things.
The revenue for the projects would come from an increase to the gross receipts tax that is paid by visitors and residents on non-grocery items. The amount is $1 for every $400 spent. Put differently, for about the price of a cup of coffee per every $400 spent, our area receives a year-round swimming pool, a conference center, an improved golf course, an improved baseball field, and a movie theater complex. And for that same cup of coffee, our area will be more attractive for families to stay here, retirees to move here, visitors to visit here, and for residents to have a greater quality of life. Yes, there are many details still to solve. We need public input to ensure that the voters get what they have been promised should this pass. Other items such as location of the movie theater need to be fully vetted. But we can no longer risk inactivity, more studies that lie on shelves at taxpayers’ expense, and a continuous departure of our population. Too much has already been lost. I love this community and plan to be here a number of years. I simply want the best for our region. I simply want a better quality of life for all of us.
Joseph Shepard
Western New Mexico University President