|
|
Regionalism key for future of Toledo, northwest Ohio, College of Law conference speakers say |
| By
Jim Winkler |
|
|
Apr 4, 2008 |
|
Education, an entrepreneurial culture and a regional approach to economic development are the keys to securing northwest Ohio’s place in a changing world economy.
That was the consensus that emerged recently as some 125 attorneys, local government officials, community leaders and economic development officials attended a program, “Successful Economic Development in the 21st Century: Revitalizing Center Cities in an Era of Globalization, Technology and Channing Legal Regimes,” sponsored by the College of Law and organized by The University of Toledo Law Review.
The conference’s main theme was that while Toledo and northwest Ohio are in a period of economic transition and that jobs in the manufacturing sector are disappearing and may never return, Toledo and northwest Ohio, nevertheless, can successfully compete in the world economy by moving from an industrial to a knowledge economy, in which intellectual property and innovative ideas fuel business and job growth.
College of Law Dean Douglas Ray opened the conference, saying it was “an important time for the topic” and that he “sensed a resurgence of hope” in the region. He cited improved labor-management relations, new scientific and economic initiatives as a result of the merger between UT and the former Medical University of Ohio, new business incubators, and recent national recognition in the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek that cited Toledo’s leadership in developing alternative and solar power.
It is imperative, several speakers said, that cities, townships and counties become more regional in their approach to economic development and begin marketing themselves jointly with one voice. They noted northwest Ohio needs to begin thinking of itself as a region consisting of a historic central city — Toledo — surrounded by cities, towns and counties that have a shared identification, function as a single zone for trade, commerce and communication, and are socially, economically and environmentally interdependent.
Steven Kaufman, an attorney with the Cleveland law firm of Thompson Hine, told conferees that “core cities are crucial to a region,” and discussed the value of eminent domain for economic development and for assembling land parcels to build roads, schools and utility lines and to transfer property from unwilling sellers to developers who want to build shopping malls, offices or other projects.
Kaufman voiced concern that recently more than 30 state legislatures have considered limits on the power of local governments to condemn private property and transfer it to real estate developers to spur economic growth as a result of a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that permitted eminent domain powers to be used in New London, Conn., to confiscate waterfront homes to build an office complex and condominiums. The 5-4 ruling prompted property rights advocates to take their case to state legislatures.
State legislatures should not rush to judgment about eminent domain laws that give governments the power to take private property for “public use” if the owner is fairly compensated, he stressed.
University of Tulsa College of Law Professor Patrice Crowder said local governments and planning agencies need to adhere to open-meeting laws to obtain the public’s input and participation during early stages of economic development planning. Allowing closed-door dealings for economic projects threatens a delicate balance between development and the public’s right to follow and understand such projects. So-called sunshine and open-meeting laws seek to ensure government bodies operate in the open and give public groups advance notice of meetings and agendas.
Stressing that Toledo “has never faced a bigger challenge than it does today,” Toledo attorney and former Lucas County Commissioner Keith Wilkowski said joint economic development zones and joint economic development districts can help attract more commercial development in the city. The city’s revitalization is a key element if northwest Ohio is to be a player in the new global market, he said.
Pointing to projections that Toledo’s population will drop from its current level of just under 300,000 to 240,000 by 2025, Wilkowski said that cities and their suburbs can no long ignore the growing division of their urban areas into extremes of income, race, crime or safety. The “donut effect” of a shrinking city can suck suburbs into a widening sinkhole.
“Our challenge is to use joint economic development zones in a way that brings jobs and people to the central Toledo,” he said. “We need to be focusing economic development within the central city of Toledo.”
Toledo and its surrounding communities should take a cue from progressive cities such as Louisville, Indianapolis, and Charlotte, N.C., and merge city and suburban county governments, according to UT President Emeritus Daniel Johnson, who is working on a book about economic development.
In addition, the region needs a “global strategy” and an “engaged university focusing on economic development,” he added.
The region’s economic potential is getting choked by the myriad agendas of cities, municipalities, townships, counties and economic development agencies that instead of working together are often in competition. True regionalism means sharing authority in managing issues such as transportation, economic development, water and sewer, education and poverty.
In the flat globalized world, Toledo and northwest Ohio competes directly for talent, investment and buzz with cities such as Dubai. Singapore, Shanghai and Helsinki, Johnson underscored.
The presence of UT’s powerful education and research base is critical in the new knowledge-based economy, he pointed out. UT can play a crucial role by graduating the talent needed to build a knowledge-based economy centered on new ideas, supporting fundamental science to discover new knowledge, working in partnerships with industry and other groups to carry out applied research and development, and facilitating technology transfer for commercialization.
Scott Ziance, a partner in Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease law firm in Columbus, outlined the game plan businesses seeking incentives should follow.
Richard D. Pomp, the Alva P. Loiselle Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut and a nationally recognized expert on corporate tax policy, pointed to research that shows that local taxes are just one of a panoply of factors that make up a decision by a company on where to locate. Politicians and legislators, he said, should move cautiously about changing the tax system or offering taxpayer-financed subsidies to lure jobs or keep companies from moving because studies demonstrate that tax cuts and incentives do not create jobs. He noted that opponents of tax incentives say the policies are destructive, pitting states against each other in a game that no one wins. One solution would be for Congress to pass anti-incentives legislation to govern the states or have competing states bring lawsuits against each other.
John J. Garman, a faculty member at the Faulkner University Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Ala., and author of a law review article on how states use economic incentives to entice foreign automakers to the South and the historic DaimlerChrysler vs. Cuno Supreme Court decision, noted that, unlike U.S. states, the 27 countries that are members of the European Union view themselves as partners, not rivals, for economic development and have eased the free movement of goods, personnel, capital and service throughout the continent. The EU prohibits “state aid,” or economic support that confers an economic advantage, is granted selectively to certain firms or for production of certain goods, distorts competition, or affects trade between member states.
Nat Alston, president and founder of the Horizons Group, a Columbia, Md., human- resources consulting firm, stressed the importance of a favorable climate for small businesses, while Darian Ibrahim, associate professor of law at the University of Arizona’s Rogers College of Law, said angel investors are crucial for economic development and helping struggling regions build entrepreneurial communities. Angel investors typically back companies in their early stages, providing money and mentoring for startup expenses or expansion. Angel investors sparked economic growth in technology hotspots such as California’s Silicon Valley in and Boston’s Route 128 area.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
