Fostering economic development should be the major focus for all local elected officials. A thriving economy directly impacts citizens’ quality of life through job creation, household income levels, county amenities, health care access, education, housing, business growth, and increased tax revenue that can be used to fund essential services like infrastructure and public safety.
So, is the current seated County Council leadership delivering on its basic duty?
The economic development track record of the County Council leadership that we have had for the last two years answers that question with an emphatic ‘No!
To illustrate, while we are thrilled to get the handful of jobs created by a cement factory, it is sadly the flagship of Fairfield’s last four years’ of economic development drought. The fact that the county’s latest (Oct.2024) unemployment rate of 6.1% is 30% higher than the state’s average is another bellwether of this seated Council’s economic failures.
The county’s latest sales tax collection tally is further disheartening for local merchants, showing a $171,000 decrease in county sales tax collections from fiscal 2022 to 2023, based on the county’s latest audit reports.
It is further shameful, albeit unbelievable, that Fairfield’s current seated County Council leadership is unable to build on an economy that has a built-in base of utility companies that already drive more than forty percent of Fairfield’s economy. It’s even more unbelievable that our current four-year economic slump follows three banner years of growth that added over $100 million in investments and around 1,000 jobs.
This current council has proven that a county can go from 100 mph to 5 mph very quickly when it slams on the economic brakes and sheds the productive people and the productive plans that were in place. Every since they left, almost four years ago, this council has been driving Fairfield into the ground.
But there is hope. We will have three new Council members coming on board Jan. 13.
We also have the opportunity to change the role of the empty, largely superfluous Assistant Administrator position to that of an experienced, successful economic development overseer so that our county can get back to true economic development.
And what about our council leadership? A nail in the coffin for Fairfield would be to re-elect the same council chair and vice chair we have had for the last two years. We desperately need new blood, forward thinkers with the kind of vision and ability of those past leaders who leveraged $100,000,000 in economic development and over 1,000 jobs in just three years.
Let’s hope the new council will be wise enough to elect new leadership this time around – a chair and vice chair with the ability to lead Fairfield out of the wilderness.
Randy Bright
Ridgeway
