Government watchdog displays Elk Grove's wasteful spending in the name of economic development

Will taxpayers ever see an end to wasteful spending?  

As a fixture at Elk Grove City Council meetings for the city's 25-year history, it is fair to say Elk Grove resident and government watchdog Lynn Wheat has spoken hundreds of times at meetings. Ms. Wheat has never been shy about speaking truth to power, as seen in this video from last year. 

During the Wednesday, May 14 meeting, Wheat took a different approach, as seen in the video below. During the presentation, Wheat played a loop of the introduction of Pink Floyd's Money from their groundbreaking Dark Side of the Moon album.

Instead of speaking, Wheat displayed placards of several expenditures made by the city of Elk Grove. As noted in the introductory placard, these expenditures were made in the name of economic development. 

In chronological order, some of those expenditures made in the name of supposed economic development included the following:

1. Failed investments in the name of Economic Development You Spent and taxpayers lost
2. SEPA Infrastructure $32 million Loan for job creation, only got more homes
3. Zoological Park $13.5 million Land Purchase and studies
4. Revitalization of Old Town $12 million + Monies continue to be dumped into the secret Old Town Plan
5. Oak Rose Litigation $10 million
6. COSTCO sales tax giveaway $8 million
7. Zaha Hadid District 56 contract/plans $1.4 million
8. Soccer Stadium $6.4 million
9. SSHPC South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan $640,000
10. Slow and Low BBQ $425,000 loan default
11. Amgen Tour Bike Race $400,000

After the presentation, Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and the city council did not respond. Although Wheat did not single out any elected official or staff member, the city's economic developer, Darrell Doan, had his hand in several of those debacles.

Doan was initially hired to bring high-paying employers to Elk Grove. Mr. Doan has failed in that endeavor. 

Elk Grove's economic development has instead shifted to a focus on retail development, and curiously, tourism.

While Elk Grove has attracted more retailers, it has also been a function of real estate developers and population growth. Mr. Doan's role in that growth, if any, was to provide brochures to developers and grease permitting - a job a person making a quarter of his salary could perform blindfolded. 

In other words, retailers like Dollar Tree or Macy's were coming to Elk Grove with or without Doan.  

Regarding tourism, Mr. Doan has also failed in that segment. His most recent failure is his unsuccessful effort to promote the now-closed Slow and Low Barbeque restaurant in Old Town. 

That restaurant closed after six months, costing taxpayers a minimum of $450,000 after the owner defaulted on the Elk Grove taxpayer loan guarantee. It is unlikely the city will recover that money.  

If we are to interpret Ms. Wheat's presentation and the city's long and inglorious history of failed ventures, taxpayers ought to consider not if there will be more wasteful spending - there will - but rather how many more of these debacles are in the city's future. 

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