Is Lyle Pro-growth as far as trying to attract new business into this town? Absolutely! That is the main focus of my campaign and my reason for running. My overall belief is that over the last few years the city hasn’t done enough to attract new business. The population explosion added lots of demands to the city’s budget, but left individual residents holding the bag for all of the necessary services, improvement, and infrastructure maintenance. Before the explosion, the number of residents to businesses was more in balance than what it is now. Sure, there have been some retail establishments added to help meet the demand, but residents of Battle Ground still have to leave town to conduct a significant amount of business such as shopping and working. Another issue is the cost of living in Battle Ground. I don’t mean the cost as it related directly to the consumer price index, but the actual cost. As you and many others are aware, the turn of the millennium brought a migration to Battle Ground as people desired the slower pace and lower cost of housing. At the time, the price of gas was relatively low (around a dollar and a half) so the additional mileage for commuters wasn’t a big deal. Fast forward to the present day and find that many are upside down in their homes and couldn’t leave if they wanted to. Gas is now four dollars a gallon so the additional mileage a commuter travels gets expensive rather quickly. Utilities are expensive in Battle Ground and they keep going up. Hence, there are some who can’t afford to stay and can’t afford to go. So, the problem as I see it is two-pronged: one is the burden on individual tax and rate payers to fund the city’s operations, and the other is the cost of living. I apologize if this post is out of order, but to me the entire problem is related to a lack of commerce in Battle Ground proper. The only way to get a little relief is to bring some businesses into Battle Ground whose contribution to the budget in the form of additional sales, excise, and property taxes is significant. These businesses will also hopefully provide jobs so that many of the people currently leaving the community for work can stay in town. This lowers costs of commuting, reduces greenhouse gases, and makes for a nicer community overall because people are more involved, and have more time to spend here. I don’t intend to make campaign promises I am unable to keep, but to accomplish this it will take a lot of effort on the part of the council to woo businesses to Battle Ground. It is no secret that it will be difficult to convince large-scale manufacturing firms to base their operations in this area; the distance to ports and freeways is a difficult hurdle to overcome. However, knowledge work such as finance, software development, and call centers would all find a wonderful home in this community, and would no doubt be welcomed by the residents. The key to achieving any of this is developing a common vision. I think the city and some on the council are ready to work together toward this common vision. Once that is accomplished, it will be much easier to manage growth and guide land use planning so that it continues to remain favorable to businesses. I plan on making it a personal mission to speak with business leaders and advocate for Battle Ground as a prime location for their continued growth.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:42:07 +0000
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