Notwithstanding the coming Broome-Doan dog and pony show, think tank study shows Sac-Elk Grove falling behind


At the Wednesday night meeting of the Elk Grove City Council, there will be a presentation by Barry Broome, the president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.

Word on the street is that Broome was shoehorned on the agenda to offer support for Elk Grove's beleaguered economic development director and Broomer protege, Darrell Doan. The last few weeks had done nothing to enhance the city's reputation as playing it straight with constituents as Elk Grove's new city manager Jason Behrmann promised when he was appointed on January 9 (see the video on Behrmann's comments about being honest and transparent here).

Doan and his mega mentor Broome will undoubtedly gloss about creating a biomed district in the middle of an existing neighborhood, and what such good work they are doing together they'll have you thinking they are Batman and Robin. The reality is more like, well, they are like The Penguin and The Riddler. 

Of course, the Elk Grove City Council will react to the presentation like catnip. After heaping praise on the dog and pony show, words like synergy, phenomenal and fantastic will be passed around like a bong at a 420 celebration.  

Broome will make his presentation sound like he made a three-point takedown and immediate pin. The more accurate truth is more like he got disqualified for not making weight.

One source that points to the repeated failures of our dynamic duo Broome and Doan is a recently released study conducted by Los Angeles-based Milken Institute.

In the study titled "Best Performing Cities - Where America's Job are Created and Sustained 2018," Sacramento had a disappointing showing. Aside from being a middling city in the rankings, the study revealed a more troubling reality - Sacramento has slipped compared to other American metropolitan areas. 

Of 200 large cities, for 2018, Sacramento was ranked 64th of best-performing large cities. The more troubling gauge, especially for Broome and Doan, was the year-over-year decline to 64th place from 55th in 2017 a drop of nine spots.

More bad performance numbers within the measurement metric showed more data on Broome and Doan's performance. In job growth for 2018, Sacramento slipped to 92nd place, from 48th in 2016-2017, and 43rd between 2012 and 2017. 

In the all-important high tech gross domestic product growth, the numbers were similarly dismal. Between 2012 and 2016, Sacramento was 142nd, but for the one year, the downward trend continued between 2016-2017 with the metro area dropping to 186th place out of 200. 

We suppose Fremont, California-based NRC Manufacturing decision to not really come to Elk Grove hurt the area's ranking.

If they ever cared to acknowledge their poor performance, which they will not, undoubtedly Broome and Doan will point to the oft-repeated and tired talking point of the challenges of doing businesses in California. There too, they would be throwing out a red herring.

Of the top 15 cities in the study ranking, four California cities including San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, the Inland Empire were ranked second, fourth, 14th and 15th respectively.

Adding insult to injury, is our smaller sister Valley cities outperformed the Sacramento area. with Stockton moving from 68th place to 34th; Fresno from 66th to 37th; Merced from 94th to 38th; and even Vallejo jumped to 49th place from 64th place. Sacramento can have bragging rights over Modesto, which fell from 33rd place to 53rd place, but even with that drop, they outperformed Broom and Doan. 

Of little surprise, the report notes "the top-performing metros have cohesive strategies that allow them to leverage their assets more effectively. They offer important lessons that may be helpful to peer regions."

It appears Broome and Doan didn't get that memo. 
 








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D.J. Blutarsky said...

EGN needs to back off! You seem to be forgetting that Doan got us the Mi Rancho torilla factory, Quick Quack Car Wash, and Arby's. It takes time to fill the empty Osh, Toys R Us, and Sports Chalet buildings. Plus, Broome got Luke Walton to coach the Kings. Ticket sales will be flying through the roof now!

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