HORACE MCQUEEN: Grants, And Gifts — Why, Oh, Why?
The big deal in local Texas government today seems to be hiring grant writers to funnel boatloads of taxpayer money to our counties and cities — large and small. Examples of such greed abound in East Texas. Multi-billion dollar companies often say they won’t bring a new business to our area without taxpayer subsidies. These subsidies are often grants — through governmental agencies, plus tax abatements. Should not a new business pay their fair share of taxes like everyone else who lives here?
Commonsense dictates economic growth in East Texas—but without polluting the air, our water sources or bringing in a business that offers wages that can’t compete with the Wal-Mart greeter. And when county, city and economic development folks try to hide under the rug their efforts to bring such new enterprises to our area we should be wary of their intentions. Bringing in new business should concentrate on that business being a good citizen, paying decent wages and not unduly competing with our present business owners.
Some taxpayers who were jubilant that a big chicken outfit was coming to Anderson County a few years ago are now not so sure they did right. I get plenty of calls from residents who live close to one or more of the big broiler/pullet or laying houses. The smell from some of those operations is becoming a major problem for many neighbors. And when the billion-dollar poultry integrator Sanderson Farms is asked to demand their contract chicken growers clean up their act, the request seems to fall on deaf ears.
Then there are our roads — especially narrow and often unpaved county roads. County Judge Jim Lovell in Houston County says he is bombarded by calls and visits from residents who want load limits established on county roads. No can do — Judge Lovell says trucks hauling feed to poultry farms — or trucking birds back to the Palestine processing facility — are exempt from weight regulations on county roads. Some county roads are often virtually impassable due to the damage caused by the poultry trucks.
In the interest of “business development” Grapeland is on the way to getting a new company tied to the chicken industry. The small rural town leaders are depending on getting a million dollar taxpayer grant from the State of Texas to make the plant a reality. Darling Corporation, a world-wide company with over 200 different locations, plans to operate a 24-hour a day, seven day-a-week plant processing chicken offal — that’s guts, feathers and other leavings from their Palestine processing plant. With no advance notice from city or county leaders, the deal was agreed to by elected officials. Those of us who were born and raised around agriculture certainly know about rendering plants — and what they process. Give taxpayers a voice in the grandiose plan before making hard and fast agreements that will affect them for decades to come. Biggest question from local folks seems to be, “why build a rendering plant thirty miles from the Palestine processing facility”? Or reckon the Sanderson-Darling Corporation officials felt they would have a tough time convincing Anderson County taxpayers that they needed the rendering plant in their back yard? When it comes to trust and transparency in government, no wonder citizens are fed up!