Requesting names is not much to ask
For some reason, representatives from the Industrial Development Board and Chamber of Commerce don’t want anyone to know who has applied for the county’s vacant industrial recruiter position. It’s their big secret.
Several times the Standard has asked for the names of the people who have applied for the job and each time the newspaper has been rejected.
The problem with this stance is it violates the Sunshine Law, a law intended to prevent public decisions from being made in private. Since the Industrial Development Board is heavily funded by taxpayer dollars and the Chamber also receives some taxpayer funding, neither organization can operate behind closed doors. Each organization is accountable to the people.
If the Industrial Development Board would like to give back the $349,000 it’s scheduled to receive from the county this year and another $48,750 from the city of McMinnville, then it can begin to operate like a private business. The same goes for the Chamber, which gets $11,500 from McMinnville and another $1,500 from the county.
If the two organizations would like to forfeit the combined $410,750 in tax dollars they are scheduled to receive this budget year, they are welcome to do as they please. Until that point, however, they are not allowed to hide basic information, such as who has applied for the industrial recruiter position.
It all comes down to obtaining simple information every citizen in Warren County is entitled to have. Every one of us has the right to walk in the Chamber office and get the list of job applicants for ourselves.
The question is how do we want our industrial recruiter to be hired? Do we want three representatives from the Chamber and three from the Industrial Development Board deciding in secret who the new recruiter will be? The Standard certainly doesn’t think that’s appropriate.
We want the names to be made public so all of us know who has applied. The Standard would like to interview each applicant, find out their work history and give their goals for the office of industrial recruiter. And we would certainly publish that information in the newspaper.
We’d like to discover any specific plans or any successful methods these candidates have found to recruit industry. We’d like to know why they’re interested in the position. Is that such an unreasonable request?
One thing which has an impact on each and every one of us is the local economy, which is tied closely to the availability of local jobs. Considering our tax dollars are involved, we have the right to know who has applied to spearhead the effort of industrial recruitment.
Simply put, the Standard would like to stop playing hide and seek and get things in the open. We would like to inform Warren countians about who could be representing us as our next industrial recruiter. It’s not much to ask.