I would use it to make our city a tax-free haven for businesses. This simple act would help more people than anything else.
By…?
How big is your city? How long will that last? Tax deals for business don’t have a good record at producing results for anyone but the business owners and the politicians they buy.
Quite so - I forgot to add my last point: An actual campaign for a Constitutional amendment would probably cost more than a Presidential campaign, and those hit the several-billion dollar mark for each candidate. Even a billion dollars would fall far short of what’s needed - but if I could build support in a few states, this would:
1.) Generate buzz on the issue even in states I hadn’t targeted;
2.) Demonstrate to potential donors that I knew what I was doing (thus increasing my odds of getting truly nation-scale money); and
3.) Show other DC statehood advocacy groups how advocacy outside DC could work.
Holy Athena’s generous contribution wouldn’t get us all the way there, but it would be a fine start.
Much easier to just give most of the District, aside from the Mall, back to Maryland. Maryland doesn’t want it, true, but who cares? Maybe use the billion to smooth ruffled feathers a bit.
I’ve actually wondered that often, living next to Detroit. A billion ain’t gonna fix it, so how do “invest” the money so that continues to help, rather than goes down the drain like so much before has.
I think the smartest idea is the consolidate, demolish, and abandon strategy they are starting to employ. Clear out the abandoned houses and buildings(that might take the whole billion it self) but for the people who are stuck in mostly abandoned neighborhoods because they only have the house and it’s unsellable, help them move elsewhere.
I live near Palo Alto CA, one of the most expensive housing markets in America, so I’m going to build affordable housing: some houses, some apartments. Maybe a few co-ops.
The assumption, obviously, is that the businesses (after setting up shop) would hire local talent, and these people would pay taxes, buy homes, eat at restaurants, etc. Which is good for everyone.
If it makes you feel better, I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to making contractual agreements with these businesses that would exchange their 100% tax abatements for achieving certain hiring quotas.
I would open up a large facility for the purpose of discovering and developing the creative side of people not all of us have yet discovered. Of course the arts would be included but a large emphasis would go toward inventers researchers etc. It would remain non profit so if any of the different programs became profitable the money could be pumped back into the program for personnal development.
Ok, so you’re not going to buy a pig in a poke. It sounds like you are counting on new revenue from a business and essentially giving them a billion dollars for their trouble. I don’t really have a problem with that assuming some long term performance guarantees.
So besides hiring quotas, I’m trying to figure out what else would be necessary to make this work. It seems obvious to me there need to be long term requirements not just for hiring but retention as well. I think the business would also have to take the rewards sometime several years ahead of receiving it because they need an incentive not to sell out or tank the business after taking a quick profit. So I’m interested in hearing what else you think is needed for this.
Also, is there a reason you wouldn’t make yourself the CEO or Chairman of the Board to try to guarantee the outcome? (I’m not presuming you won’t)
I live in a town of less than 10,000 people that has a 4 million dollar a year budget. A billion dollars is a shitload of money to a town like this.
Let’s see:
a. trash pickup
b. plow all the roads in the winter instead of just 1/3 of them
c. fund the proposed 17,000 square foot library to replace the current 4,000 square foot library
d. bolster the conservation fund’s efforts to buy town property so enough water-front property could be purchased to have a town beach (no town beach…in the lakes region. how embarrassing!)
e. healthy tax breaks to encourage a grocery store and a few more other retail businesses to be build within town limits
I don’t live in a city, I live in Unincorporated Calumet Township in Lake County, Indiana but let’s count that as my “city”. It’s basically everything in Lake County that is not in an incorporated municipality, so we tend to get short shrift on funding anything. This is how I will spend the money, in order of priority, until the money runs out:
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Repair roof damage. We have damaged roofs dating back to the tornado in 2008, and last winter didn’t help, either. All roofs will be repaired, from gutters/fascia up to peaks.
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Finish funding the local flood control measures if that’s needed (probably not, but I really, really want those finished)
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Set up a fund to help the poor in the area with utility bills from electrical to garbage pick up (we do not have municipal garbage collection, residents contract privately for that, haul their own garbage, or it piles up in their yard if they can’t manage either of those). Get everyone caught up on their utility bills.
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Knock down vacant/abandoned properties that are beyond repair before they collapse or burn.
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Make sure local fire departments are fully funded.
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Other structural repairs to homes and businesses, roads, and infrastructure (such as it is, we’re pretty bare bones in a lot of ways).
Sacramento Area
I use the money to entice restaurateurs in L.A., San Francisco and New York to open places here…and have them stay open till 11 PM.
Seriously. We have very little in terms of world class cuisine and they roll up the streets at 9 PM.
I live just north of Flint MI, which is seriously underfunded and bleeding firefighter and police jobs - the city is staying afloat only because state and county personnel are helping out, and the city “emergency manager” has proposed cutting those positions even further since the city is so broke.
I would use some of the billion to bring police and firefighter response back to acceptable levels.
Some to fund eliminating the thousands of rotted-out houses and work out deals with adjacent homeowners, or neighborhood groups, so take care of those properties and put them to good use, such as urban gardens or orchards. (This is being done now but not on a large enough scale to make enough difference.)
If any of that billion is left over or wisely invested, I’d give grants to the black churches, the YWCA and the Catholic diocese because these organizations are already doing yeoman’s work at the grassroots level, but are seriously underfunded.
I would pay people to use birth control. Something like enroll in the program and get a check at the end of the month for not getting pregnant or not getting anyone else pregnant. People could stay in the program until menopause if they wanted or get a nice cash settlement ($10,000 - $15,000) for agreeing to permanent sterilization. Abortion would be free, but anyone that chooses to have a child is dropped from program.
How do you enforce the part about paying men not to get anybody pregnant?
I would stimulate employment and aesthetics by having nearly all buildings built after 1920 demolished and replaced with mixed architecture of previous periods.
No offense, but I don’t think that is a PR or education issue. Most people are at least vaguely aware of a DC statehood initiative. Most (including me) are actively opposed to it rather than just ignorant or apathetic.
Do you really want to know?
Somebody has to ask.