May 2, 2016 UPDATE: Response from the Mayor:
“I have asked the CAO to put a hold on hiring such an individual as a different approach looks promising.” Entire Mayor’s Email response can be found here.
April 12, 2016 UPDATE: Follow up questions sent to the Mayor can be found here.
March 27, 2016 UPDATE: The Mayor’s detailed response can be found here.
For the full text of the Email sent to the Mayor on March 23, 2016 click here.
We have sent an email to the Mayor asking him to answer two questions about the proposed hiring of a “Manufacturing Attraction Specialist”.
We want to understand the rationale on how this hire fits into the Draft Economic Development Strategic Plan recently presented by Wendy Gibson at the March 14th Council of the Whole.
How will this position be measured for success on an ongoing basis? This job description is open ended and will require specific targets to understand its effectiveness. Best practices always advise that when creating a position there should be measurable targets to judge performance. Additionally, when implementing a new position, it is often desirable to make it a contract position to allow for more options down the road.
Here is a quote from economist Ben Casselman spelling out the reason why manufacturing jobs are not coming back to North America. Politicians saying they will get manufacturing jobs are misleading the public. To quote Casselman:
“There is nothing wrong with politicians’ trying to save what remains of U.S. (North American) manufacturing, nor with trying to avoid repeating old mistakes on trade. But like it or not, the U.S. (North America) is now a service-based economy. It’s time candidates started talking about making that economy work for workers, rather than pining for one that’s never coming back.”
For the full article, click here.
This is a commitment of taxpayers’ money of $43,680 per year plus a comprehensive benefits package. Hiring staff, even part-time, creates a significant commitment and liability over the coming years. There is no question that having commercial enterprises locating in Cobourg is positive. Bringing in jobs and families adds to the Town’s vibrancy and increasing the tax base would help to alleviate the tax burden on both residents and businesses.
We do not see the laser focus in this job that the current business environment requires.
We will provide an update when we have a response.