New York’s Job-Saving Subsidies; Duluth’s Beloved Mayor Disappoints Fans
Alcoa's plant in Massena, New York. Russ Nelson / Flickr.com
Also: Road workers in Kansas need winter coats and Eugene axes’ its unlicensed professional engineer.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today …
MASSENA, New York: Officials in the Empire State have offered $65 million in subsidies to Alcoa as a way to preserve 600 jobs at a smelting plant through 2019. The New York City-based lightweight metals company had planned to close its Massena plant due to a drop in global aluminium prices. As the Times Union reports, “the state will provide $30 million in low-cost electricity from the New York Power Authority and $38 million to fund plant improvements. [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo said Alcoa would face up to $40 million in sanctions if Alcoa breaks the agreement or if the number of jobs drops below 600.” [Times Union]
DULUTH, Minnesota: Although Duluth’s so-called “boy mayor” Don Ness is leaving City Hall with insanely high approval ratings and has been credited for the northern Minnesota port city’s revitalization, he has been on record that he is leaving public office with no immediate plans to return to politics. Some have called on him to run for Congress or governor. Why not? MinnPost reports:
For Ness, he doesn’t imagine getting back into politics for the next 10 to 15 years, if ever. He wants to see his kids grow up and head off to college. He also wants to commit to his next job, whatever it may be. He’s had a few interesting options come up for his next gig, but nothing quite perfect yet, he said. “That’s kind of discouraging,” he laughed. “I'm coming to realize as a mayor there are a huge spectrum of issues that you get to plug in and learn about. I love that part of the job, and as I think about other opportunities, it’s almost as much about having to let go of things I'm interested in in selecting the one path forward.” “If there’s a job that’s being mayor without the politics,” he added, “that’s exactly what I want to do.”
And wouldn’t it be nice if running a city didn’t have to involve politics? [MinnPost]
EUGENE, Oregon: A lesson to professional engineers working for local governments. Don’t forget to renew your professional engineering license! A traffic engineer working for the city of Eugene was removed from his position for working without a valid professional engineering license for six years, as The Register-Guard reports. The traffic engineer says he thought had renewed his license but hadn’t paid the fees to do so since 2008. The state is now investigating him for doing unlicensed professional engineering work. [The Register Guard]
MARION COUNTY, Kansas: Road and bridge workers in this rural jurisdiction north of Wichita have been dealing with an annoying problem. Work boots and winter coats can be expensive, and they’ve been paying for those essential items personally. Some of them recently told county commissioners that it’d be nice if they could get an allowance to buy such equipment. And as the Marion County Record reports, “[a]fter discussing it with road and bridge supervisor Jesse Hamm, commissioners approved a $100 allowance for winter equipment for county workers who spend more than 50 percent of their time outside.” [Marion County Record]
(Photo by Russ Nelson / Flickr.com)
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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