Without responsible planning, short-term benefits turn into disadvantages

Platte County has had quite a successful decade, especially in terms of economic development and population growth. This was re-enforced again last week when county population estimates from the Census bureau put Platte County’s 2009 population at 90,688, an increase of just under 17,000 people from 2000. Continuing to be one of the fastest growing counties in Missouri has brought significant benefits including increased revenues for education, more opportunities for employment and new businesses, and the added choices available to consumers. While positive growth is important to maintain, it’s imperative to make sure the economic development we see in the next decade is implemented responsibly with long-term sustainability in mind.

You don’t need to look too far to find examples of short-term economic benefits turning into long-term disadvantages. Although they thrived leading into the new millennium, Metro North and Antioch Mall are now nearly obsolete. Developers and public officials have been trying to figure out for years what exactly to do with what is now a symbol of a retail development era of the past. What were once high concentrations of economic power are now an eyesore reflecting on the surrounding businesses and neighborhoods.
In coming years you’ll also be able to look to Johnson County, a symbol of financial strength and growth over recent decades, and their many municipalities to see who has planned for the eventual maximization of retail supply. Strip malls and retail centers didn’t seem like they could be built fast enough at one time. As they age and lose their appeal, tenants find their way to newer locations down the road, leaving empty buildings and parking lots to breakdown.
Many could say these are results of the free market at work, but one thing not considered is the lasting effects failure has on a community. Not only are jobs lost, tax dollars for public improvements decrease, and home values go down, but surrounding businesses that rely on the demand created by these large developments tend to see lower revenues as well. This is why responsible planning is just as much a factor in our county’s financial sustainability as development itself.

Although this growth would never happen without the investment of developers, sometimes their short-term commitment is similar to the approach politicians take towards poll numbers and exchange the long-term vision of a community for rewards in the present. By the time 20 or 30 years have passed, the original owner or development group is long gone, having seen their profit years before. It’s nothing to say of their character, but simply the capitalist nature of our society to get out at the top. This is why in addition to responsibly planning the development of new economic assets with current ones to expand our county’s growth, encouraging the re-development of older, underutilized centers and buildings will allow for the rejuvenation of entire neighborhoods and street intersections. This creates both the tangible benefit of more economic activity using already present resources and the opportunity to restore an area’s image.

Riverside, Parkville, Platte City, and our major intersections in Kansas City including Zona Rosa and along Barry Road are seeing great progress, but it is important in 20 years that we have planned well enough and built a strong enough infrastructure to ensure the continued economic strength of our county. Although unpredictable and difficult to do, our county must take steps towards growth similar to the steps we take in our own personal lives towards long-term health and well-being.

After passing significant legislation, Grill turns to re-election

After recently finishing his second term in the Missouri House, Rep. Jason Grill (D-Parkville) is getting used to spending more of his time back in his district after being in Jefferson City a majority of the past five months. He won’t have much time to get comfortable because he’s already taking steps towards his re-election campaign where he’ll be running against former Park Hill School Board member Ron Schieber.

The 2010 legislative session resulted in one of the more divisive sessions in recent years as it produced a relatively low number of passed bills compared to past sessions, but one thing Grill is particularly proud of is his advocacy of autism insurance legislation over the last two years which resulted in one of the session’s more notable accomplishments. House bill 1311 and Grill’s 1341 have been delivered to Governor Jay Nixon and upon being signed into law this week will require group insurance policies to provide coverage to autistic children under the age of 18 for applied behavioral analysis services with a $40,000 annual cap.

Sponsoring the bill in 2009, Grill says politics didn’t allow the bill to be heard last year, but with full support from the Governor and members of the majority party this year, the bill gained the support to move forward. Grill partnered with Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst (R-St. Louis) who sponsored HB 1311.

“The Speaker didn’t bring it to the house floor in 2009,” Grill said. “I think we had the votes to pass it, but there wasn’t a consensus between the majority party and the insurance industry at the time. This year, Governor Nixon made it one of his priorities and we worked extensively with both party’s leadership to get this done.”

As a member of the minority party, Democrats sometimes find it hard to influence the legislative process in Jefferson City, but Grill says he approaches this as a challenge requiring him to work with Republican legislators on issues where they can find common ground.

“It helps you understand the issues more because you’re not always thinking about what the Governor wants or the Speaker, but more what the district would want. It helps you get stuff done because you’re not partisan and not always a part of the bickering. I feel like I’ve been able to work with most members of the legislature,” Grill said.

With the state’s economic situation and budget being a top priority over the last year, the legislature has had to re-examine every area of funding. One area Grill has focused on is economic development. As an attorney who works with traditional economic development approaches like real estate, commercial transactions, and public/private partnerships, Grill also believes the legislature hasn’t considered all of the options available.

“We need to be more pro-active by looking at different ways to raise revenue in our state over the long-term. States around us are using different methods of utilizing tax credits and other tools. We had several good bills this year, but they didn’t go anywhere. I think there are a lot of good things we could be doing right now and it’s a shame we haven’t. We have a lot of assets in our state and we need to utilize them,” Grill said.

Grill’s 32nd District, located in southern Platte County, has an interesting political make-up. Susan Phillips, a conservative Republican, represented the district for eight years prior to Grill. Running as a moderate, he nearly defeated Phillips in 2004 before winning in 2006 with 60% of the vote. He says he’s followed through on the moderate platform he ran on in his two terms.

“Running a campaign as a moderate and actually representing your district as one are sometimes different, but I feel I’ve lived up to it. It helps greatly because it allows me to work with conservative and moderate Republicans in addition to Democrats. You can pass legislation, even in the minority, if you’re bipartisan,” Grill said.

In regards to his campaign, Grill plans on promoting his legislative record and independent approach to issues.

“I’m sure my opponent will differ with me on certain things, but I think most people in Platte County are more moderate and independent in their politics and those are people I’ll continue to look to for support,” Grill said.