David Brown Questionnaire Response
1) The city of Lawrence, Douglas County and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce have a long history of working together on the promotion of economic development. What actions would you take as a county commissioner to make this partnership more successful in the future?
Expanding the tax base is the only way we can continue to provide important services to our residents without raising taxes. I support economic development as a way to achieve this goal. I also believe in leading by example, and in order to ensure Douglas County residents that they are getting value for the investment the county makes in this initiative, I would become personally involved in economic development efforts. Continued promotion of our area is
essential, but only a part of the equation. It does us no good to promote our region to businesses if we don’t have the right environment for them to be successful once they are here. I would thus look at our entire business environment. This would include how business perceives Douglas County, whether our codes and ordinances facilitate or impede business opportunities, and whether we have an adequate inventory of sites and buildings to offer businesses interested in creating jobs in
our communities.
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2) Do you support the use of tax abatements as a recruitment tool for new industry, or the expansion of existing industries, if the applicant can demonstrate that the remaining taxes paid by the industry are sufficient to cover the cost of local government services rendered to the industry?
In order for us to be truly successful in growing jobs and expanding our tax base in the next decade, we need to have a consistent, fair, and reasonable policy on the use of incentives. Other communities that deliver that consistent message to businesses are succeeding in growing their economies. For the last several years Douglas County has lagged in those areas. So as a theoretical statement, yes, I believe in the appropriate use of tax abatement as one tool in
the economic development toolbox. That does not mean that I would support all tax abatement requests. The city of Lawrence has hired a new financial analyst to study the costs and benefits of companies seeking financial incentives, and I support that examination. If the benefit outweighs the cost by the appropriate margin, then abatements can be a useful tool. I would also like us to review our other tools however, to make sure that we are maximizing the value to taxpayers and not granting
incentives unwisely.
3) What would you do as a county commissioner to ensure that all development rules are clear, consistently applied and provide an incentive rather than a deterrent for a quality economic development?
Development standards are important, whether that is for home building or developing a subdivision, but they need to be reasonable, make sense, have a purpose, and be consistently applied. Consistency and fairness need to start at the top, and that is how I would interact with my fellow commissioners and staff, as well as the public. That starts with setting the right expectations for every interaction with the county, and I will be committed to ensuring those expectations
are met. In order to accomplish that I would meet with all stakeholders, from the county administrator, department heads, neighbors, developers, county residents, business owners, etc., to get input into what the county is doing well, and where the county has opportunities for improvement. We need an easy, user friendly process, that is extremely customer service oriented, If there are shortcomings, those can be remedied through staff training, education, and holding people accountable.
4) Do you support the south Lawrence Trafficway 32B alignment as endorsed by the Federal Highway Administration and approved by KDOT?
Yes, I support the 32B alignment to finish the trafficway. This project has been talked about for years. A tremendous amount of effort was used to assure this is the best alignment for everyone. Finishing the trafficway would be a regional benefit, not just local. With the completion of the trafficway, it would relieve some traffic from Lawrence City streets and provide an area for economic development on either end of the trafficway. With that said, until Federal money is available
only some re-creation of the wetlands will be started west of Louisiana.
5) Recently there were two annexation and rezoning requests (Farmers Turnpike and Airport) that dealt with transferring agriculture land to other uses. What are key issues and priorities for you in deciding future land use of agriculture land? In addition, where in the County would you support development of land for industrial development?
As a farmer I know the importance of good farm ground. I also know the old saying they don’t make anymore farm ground. That needs to be balanced however, with finding the greatest good for the majority of Douglas County residents. Horizon 2020 recognizes the need for this balance, and has identified several areas that would be appropriate for future business and industry. Those locations are all on land that is currently in some type of agricultural
use. People have strong feelings about this issue, but decisions of this critical nature should not be made based on a single viewpoint, particularly if that viewpoint is simply “not in my backyard.,” I support finding a middle ground, and particularly on controversial issues I believe the sides must sit down and work toward finding that compromise solution. Questions I would ask would include; is the location useable for development, is the land owner willing to have their land developed for
commercial or industrial uses, and what issues need to be resolved among the stakeholders in order to achieve consensus? There is no sense in passing something that is not useable, and we need to listen to users to determine their needs for appropriate locations, as well as the public who would be impacted by those decisions. I believe we need industrial sites not just limited to K-10. We need to pursue viable locations along all routes at all the transportation corridors as each offer something different.
Developing sites for business growth will allow us to expand our tax base, grow jobs, and reduce the number of residents who must commute outside of our county to find work.