To bring Clark County’s head above water, people need to spend, spend, spend.
Easier said than done.
In a recently passed resolution, the Board of Clark County Commissioners has said it will spend economic stimulus dollars on job creation and, as much as possible, on local products and services. Also – and this could be the tricky part – it “urges” Clark County residents to shop within the county limits.
The silver lining of the county’s sharp drop in revenue during this recession is that it is moving toward making permanent changes that could put money in the pockets of local businesses.
Commissioner Chair Marc Boldt said the county is looking at how it can bid out more contracts and purchases, such as fleet cars within the county. The county is beholden to a typical government low-bid system – which requires government entities to take the lowest qualified bidder – but would like to see that changed and be able to give more weight to a company that is based here.
For now, the county is doing more outreach to local companies during the bidding process.
“We make sure all local vendors have (any bids that go out), and if a local vendor has trouble bidding, we ask them to tell us their questions so we can help them in the process to compete with other people,” Boldt said.
Boldt, a farmer by trade and who is heavily involved in preserving the county’s agricultural community, also has talked with large chain groceries such as Fred Meyer, Safeway and Wal-Mart about selling more locally grown food in their stores.
A gateway to this would be to organize the farms into a co-op so the stores could buy in bulk and streamline the United States Department of Agriculture inspection process, he said.
Beyond an informal education campaign among county employees, the county does not have any way to make residents shop locally – this job tends to trickle down to the cities because they have closer relationships to merchant associations and chambers in more urban areas.
At the behest of the city, Vancouver’s Downtown Association has formed a retail strategy team, which is focused on creating a campaign to get downtowners to shop locally. The team has had public meetings and brainstorming sessions, but does not yet have a strategic plan.
While studies have shown that putting money into independent or locally-headquartered shops keeps more money in a community than shopping at chains headquartered outside the area, the VDA is emphasizing local shopping, period, said Mary Sisson, co-owner of Esther Short toy shop Kazoodles and head of the association’s shop local committee.
The County agrees.
“It’s kind of a two-pronged approach, as far as money staying within Clark County,” Boldt said. “It is far better to shop with a business owned in Clark County. But it is totally different when you look at our budget – sales tax is sales tax.”
Incoming stimulus
To help stimulate building and spending in the short term, the board voted April 28 to vest traffic impact fees at 2006 levels for developers through 2009 if they fast-track their projects.
Holding down fees temporarily would save developers an estimated $2.2 million this year, said County Administrator Bill Barron. That savings could be used to jumpstart building.
In terms of stimulus dollars, the county is likely to receive an estimated $13.5 million through the state.
Of the funds:
• Almost $2 million will go to a low-income home weatherization project run by Clark Public Utilities, the vendors for which would be local HVAC companies, Barron said.
• About $2.5 million will be used to improve 88th Street between St. Johns Boulevard and Andresen Road.
• The county is set to get an $188,000 embellishment on top of Clark County’s annual $400,000 criminal justice block grant that is soon to come in.
• The county has applied for a $2.2 million renewable energy block grant to continue fulfilling its energy conversation policy approved in 2008.
Looking long-term, the county has begun a feasibility study to determine whether to build and staff a biomass power plant, Barron said.
Jessica Swanson can be reached at jswanson@vbjusa.com.
