About Me

My photo
Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Will $1 Million in County Assistance Help "Aging" Communities.

On Monday, Executive John Brown made it official. He announced a $1 million grants and loan program, which is designed to focus more on the aging boroughs than on Bethlehem and Easton. On the campaign trail, he had argued that "[w]e have to get away from Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, and focus on the rest of the community." His plan, called the Community Investment Partnership Program (CIPP), will actually give priority to applications from the smaller communities. At an economic development hearing last week, DCED Director Diane Donaher indicated that 80% of the grants and funds awarded will go to what she calls the "aging communities" in contrast to the urban core.

Funding Source for CIPP Program

The funding source for this grants and loan program is the $1.2 million in table games revenue that the County gets every year from the Sands Casino. This find has grown to over $3 million, and Executive John Brown has the right to spend it in whatever manner he pleases, so long as he declares that it is in the County's best interest. Council has been aware of this growing fund, but has taken no steps to date to assert its control over these purse strings  "I really think Council should look into controlling this money like any other revenue stream and have say over where it goes," Ken Kraft has cautioned. Right now, the only person who has that control is Executive John Brown.

Emphasis on Aging Communities

This grant and loan program is now available on the county's DCED webpage. Applications are due by the end of July, and include communities, businesses and nonprofits. They will be rated by DCED staff, who have already indicated that preference will be given to smaller communities.

The way Donaher put it sounds almost condescending.  She describes the County's boroughs as "aging communities that lack access to resources. .. They don't have staff. They don't have funding."  She told Council these older communities suffer from "blighted properties and failing infrastructure.".

She wants "to literally partner with them in their comprehensive plan and provide, not just funding, but technical assistance through our new staff and through the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission to help them become stable again."

This is because ""if the boroughs fail, we become unattractive."

Can County really assist smaller communities?

As much as I'm sure these smaller communities will be glad for any technical assistance the County can provide, is the County really up to it?  Donaher has hardly set any job creation records, except within her own department. It's unclear to me whether County government, which has demonstrated a complete inability to manage its own assets and resources, would provide any real benefit to a smaller community. In fact, this grants and loan program requires completed applications by July 31, without any regard for the municipalities that lack the technical proficiency to even accomplish that task.

Does anyone here think West Easton could take stock and apply for a grant or loan in time? Will these smaller communities even know about this program, to say nothing of the businesses in them?

This whole process seems designed to attract applications from municipalities that already know what they are doing, not problem communities like Walnutport, where the biggest business seems to be drug trafficking.

Council member Seth Vaughn was wowed by the proposal. "Sounds like you guys definitely have a plan here," he gushed. But Kraft was more cynical.

"I see no economic development going on," he complained. "I see little grants for changing the poster on the side of a building., painting windows, things that create no economic development whatsoever."

Architect of grant and loan program was a NIZ Planner

One of the biggest impediments to economic development in the Lehigh Valley right now is the Allentown NIZ, which has poached businesses from communities outside of Allentown.  Yet the architect for the crumbs being thrown at our aging boroughs is Mark Hartney, a former senior planner in Allentown who was one of the biggest NIZ cheerleaders. He told Council five different times that he's "excited" about this plan.  He can't wait to "get some of this money out into the street and in the communities, working where it should be working."

CIPP Nuts and bolts:

Here are the different kinds of grants and loan programs available:

1) Façade grants. - Despite the creation of little Potemkin villages with fake fronts that are called façade grants, I have yet to see any evidence that they actually work in any meaningful way.I know it gives everyone an excuse to use a fancy French word, so there is that plus. But just as John Brown allowed vacancies to pile up on his desk while he studies performance metrics, I'd like to see hard evidence that fake storefronts actually help a business.

2) Capital Improvement Grants - These could be for as much as $50,000 and require a dollar for dollar match. This makes sense for the most part. I like the idea of improved infrastructure. But it also includes something called "public art." That should be eliminated.

3) Operations grants.- This is a very slippery slope. It's one thing to provide the funding to repair a beautiful building, but the funding of actual operations, whether it is a downtown manager or code enforcement officer. There is no way to effectively monitor whether the County is getting its money's worth. This just leads to jobs for this or that person who knows someone in DCED.

4) Entrepreneurial and workforce development grants. - These typically wil be for $10,000 or less and include certification programs.

5) Business Boost loans. I see no detailed description of this on the County web page, leading me to wonder whether the loan recipients have alrady been identified.

6) Economic Reinvestment Loan. - This, too, contains no detailed description and really makes me wonder, especially since Donaher indicated that about haf of the funding is going for loans.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Facade grants work if the underlying businesses are sound. The Apollo Grill, Cleo's Gifts, half the buildings on Bethlehem;s E. 3rd street all used these grants to spruce up the area. If run properly they can boost an area.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mr. Brown for doing this. Economic Development was ignored by John Stoffa for eight years. You are cutting government and creating jobs. The taxpaying voters have your back.

Anonymous said...

Yet another hate piece from mr bitter. In bo's tainted eyes Mr. Brown can do nothing right. Your horse lost the exec position because no one trusted him after 10 year in bethlum. Get over it, suck up to you boys angle and jm and let a real man run the county.

Anonymous said...

Creating jobs? Prove it!

Anonymous said...

John Brown as the sheriff in "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight".

Anonymous said...

The county struggles with its own finances. Thinking the county can fix these communities is just stupid.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a way to get money to consultants....

Anonymous said...

I'm sure that business boost includes "forgiveable" loans to major international companies who already know they are getting the funding. Not exactly competitive.

Anonymous said...

Why shouldn't the outlying towns get a slice of the Casino pie? We pay taxes too. Brown has no right to hold these funds hostage. He is already making it very difficult for us to access these funds with multiple hoops to jump thru to get a taste. Crumbs from the table of the rich and famous. Let them eat cake..right Brownie?

Anonymous said...

We don't need the county to FIX US! Just give us some money and we will do what's best for ourselves..within reason. We will justify the expenses to you. What more do you want from us?

Anonymous said...

Didn't your asshole buddy Seyfried have a "Revolving Loan Fund" back in the early nineties. I'm not sure but I believe that it failed horribly. He lost the election and no one ever knows what became of the money. It was to be run by the County's Economic Development Organization. Are they still overseeing the program. Did the people ever repay the money? If I recollect correctly the sum was $2,500,000.00. What happened to that money and that program. It doesn't appear to be any different than this program. If it failed once, why are we funding it again?

Anonymous said...

Because it's CASINO MONEY! It is not tax payer money.

Anonymous said...

Try to stay on topic!

Anonymous said...

What's the difference. It is now County money that can be used somewhere else. If it failed once it will fail again. Are there safeguards to ensure the money comes back to the County? What happens when the money is spent and the project fails. Who repays the money?

Anonymous said...

Brackbill took the money and invested it into the Baseball stadium.

Anonymous said...

What an original idea by voice-over artist Donaher and her bloated, overpaid staff! This is a regurgitation of the Streetscape program of years past that was funded by the state. They dropped the program when state coffers dried up. Many boroughs in the area, primarily Hellertown took advantage of those matching grants. Stoffa did not continue it because the table games slush fund was just building up. But now, Brown has to find something for Donaher and her bloated staff to do, so just throw money at a non-existent problem that will create zero jobs. But at least it will be an "achievement" for Donaher to crow about at Economic Development Committee meetings in front of fawning council members. That money could have been used to pay for public health and safety needs at the courthouse complex. But don't be creative. Just rehash a program from the past.

Anonymous said...

Reibman disbanded the Economic Development Board in Northampton county and the LVEDC took over the program. Get us a report on this program Bernie. This should be interesting as all get out to find where this money went.

Anonymous said...

I remember the two and a half million. Where is it? Let's have an investigation?

Anonymous said...

Wasn't that money handled by that "Ben Franklin" group located at Lehigh? This sounds like another Steve Donches "Bethlehem Museum" project.

Anonymous said...

Why was this announcement made in Nazareth, one of the most successful borough downtown shopping districts? If this program is designed to help "aging,blighted boroughs" then stage the announcement in Bangor, Bath or Walnutport. Those are the communities that lack the resources of Nazareth or Hellertown to attract retail businesses. Poor staging by Brown and his DCED staff.

Anonymous said...

Brown is not welcome in Bangor..thank you very much. He has burned that bridge.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Why was this announcement made in Nazareth, one of the most successful borough downtown shopping districts?"

It is far from successful, and has seen many if its small businesses die, to say nothing of the rag mills that have been gone for decades. I don't know why he announced in Nazareth, from a business that the County did not fund or provide a loan, at least not to my knowledge.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Facade grants work if the underlying businesses are sound"

I'd like hard evidence, not bullshit. Facade grants were a biggie in Allentown, and did not do shit.

Bernie O'Hare said...

8:00, 8:15, 8:19, I am going to have a rough enough time following the money trail for these grants and loans, to say nothing of something from the early '90s. Instead of trying to bait and switch, stay on topic.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Yet another hate piece from mr bitter. In bo's tainted eyes Mr. Brown can do nothing right. Your horse lost the exec position because no one trusted him after 10 year in bethlum. Get over it, suck up to you boys angle and jm and let a real man run the county."


This is not hate piece. Overall, I think the grant and loan program is a good idea and have said so. Brown's a bit late with it. This is a critical examination of various aspects.

First, I question whether Donaher and her crew can provide technical assistance to anyone, especially when they haven't figured out that these aging boroughs need more time and help to put together the applications.

Second, I am opposed to operational grants for hires, believing it is just an opportunity to find a salary for someone who is connected. We have enough Sharon Davis'.

Third, I want hard evidence that facade grants work, not some bullshit from a downtown manager about how pretty it will look. They worked in Bethlehem and Allentown's 7th St, but did not work on Hamilton.

Fourth, no public dollars should be spent on public art. That just seems obscene at a time when many kids here in the Lehigh Valley are going hungry at night.

Fifth, more details are needed concerning the loan program.

Sixth, Council needs to have control over the grant approval process. I believe it is too easy for unelected bureaucrats in DCED to take care of their cronies. Giving Council control does not remove the potential for cronyism, but makes it more transparent.

Seventh, Council needs to take control of the table games revenue. I have warned repeatedly that this is a slush fund, and it will ultimately be abused.

Anonymous said...

"Sixth, Council needs to have control over the grant approval process. I believe it is too easy for unelected bureaucrats in DCED to take care of their cronies" - AMEN!! DCED's new staff were all cronies of someone in Brown's administration. So far, DCED's ONLY job creation success has been in their own office! So you must know that somehow, someone who needs a fabricated job through this program will be connected to Brown or his minions.

Anonymous said...

Brown deserves alot of the flak he gets. But this is a good program. He should get credit for this.

Anonymous said...

this money should be equitably distributed to the towns and cities in Northampton County based upon population, with no strings attached.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Brown deserves alot of the flak he gets. But this is a good program. He should get credit for this:

I agree this is basically a good idea. I have lots of concerns, identified above, but believe they can be mostly addressed. I give him credit for recognizing that community and economic development is badly needed in the small boroughs.

Anonymous said...

It took 18 months to get to this point. IF Economic Development was and is such a priority..what took so darn long? How much time and effort and monies were expended to get to now? How many consultants does it take to establish that there is a problem in the outer towns? Smoke and mirrors at it's best and all of it billed to the county tax payers. Brown is the master illusionist.

Anonymous said...

People have to remember that Stoffa let the Economic Development Department wither on the vine. He wasn't into it so it was ignored. It will take some time to get back to where it was before he let it decay.

Anonymous said...

The cities are awash in casino money and NIZ money..the rest of us are starving to death. It's rich against poor. Feed us and then we will talk real development. But if we have to prove to you that our cupboards are bare..you have no idea of the depth of our struggles. Take your rich mans ideals and shove it!

Bernie O'Hare said...

Stoffa wqas absolutely right. A good business idea will succeed despite the lack of public cash. A bad one will fail no matter how much it is propped up. He was absolutely right to let market forces decide on economic development. I see this cash infusion to the boroughs as more community development oriented.

Anonymous said...

Agree..call it what it is..in theory. Community development is the correct term. Improving streets and buildings is the first step in attracting new business ventures. Improving services to the community is also important especially regional services.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Agreed.

Anonymous said...

The problem with this type of program is how does the County expect a place like Walnutport to match those grant dollars?

These places are in the position they are in due to a lack of money. There's no money in the budget in July. Does the County really want these grants matched by CDBG money where you have one grant matching another grant?



Anonymous said...

Some body tell Brown that Allentown is in Lehigh County.

Anonymous said...

Let's see first Walnutport will pay for a Grant Writer then a engineer and a architect, plus match $ for $. Good luck

Anonymous said...

Public Art? I think it would be an asset for people to paint portraits of you Bernie, for the public to see. There are plenty of PortaPottys dotted around the valley for road construction right now - which might provide the perfect canvas for such a project.

Anonymous said...

So let's ignore the areas where people actually live and invest heavily in places they don't. Only a Slate Belter could think up this brilliant mistake.