This was a panel discussion involving four participants.
Even though it was billed as a "business perspective," Steve Busch, the head of Busch Distributors and the chairman of the Greater Moscow Alliance, had really the only perspective from a businessman's viewpoint. One of the panelists was wearing a large "No Iraq War" button, which I thought was very inappropriate and detracted from what he had to say.
Steve stated that business requires government to be predictable. Rules and regulations have to be consistently and reliably applied. Government has no business managing competition and risk in a free market. Government's role is to provide reliable municipal services.
Sustainable water management to Busch means that local government is taking steps to have enough water for local citizens who live and work here now and in the future. The Palouse is not the Desert Southwest. We must investigate other sources of water, such as surface water. Growth will happen. There will always be supply and demand. You cannot concentrate on one at the expense of the other.
Mr. No Iraq War implied that "sustainability" meant preserving the aquifers forever, not just for 100 years. Of course, if the aquifers cannot be recharged, the only way to do that is to not only halt all growth on the Palouse, but completely evacuate the area.
Both Steve and Paul Kimmell stated that business comnmunity is underengaged in this process.
9 comments:
Government has no business managing competition and risk in a free market.
I love that quote. Did Queen Nancy go into Hugo Chavez mode when Mr. Busch said that?
A panel consisting of 75% non business people giving a business perspective ? I can see where this is going already.
I'm confident that the academics will get everything just right. They always do.
To be fair, Mr. No Iraq War is Idaho's first certified "Green Home Builder."
Paul Kimmell doesn't own a business, but he works for Avista as a spokesperson.
And the other panelist, a UI architecture and interior design professor is part of the group that purchased the Jackson Street silo complex in downtown Moscow for redevelopment.
I was dissappointed that not a single business person from Whitman county was part of the panel. Steve Busch gave a nice talk about business and capitalists always searching for ways to conserve. Efficiency and conservation go hand in hand with a profitable bottom line. I couldn't have said it better myself. Capitalists don't need government incentives to conserve, if it is true conservancy, it will pay for itself.
In general, Pullman and Whitman County seemed underrepresented among the speakers, especially WSU, which had no one to defend it against all the cheap shots being taken.
Speaking of cheap shots, where do you suppose this one came from? "A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward." Why it came from Paul Kimmell, just prior to the only conservative (Steve Busch) taking the podium! Steve Busch deserves a medal for wading through that sort of politics. And I guess it answers the old question of from which side Paul Kimmell stands.
I received a very nice e-mail from Paul Kimmell in which he explained that, "It was not intended to poke at Steve Busch but rather turn the tables and defend local businesses as being very "progressive" and "moving forward." I am grateful to Mr. Kimmell that he took the time to respond to my post.
With all due respect to Mr Kimmell , Avista being a mega utility company , can't be considered you average local business.
The same can be said of Mr "NO WAR IN IRAQ" Kelly Moore. Being a part time Green Builder is not exactly mainstream.
Miranda Anderson - Architecture and Interior Design at the University of Idaho ?
As far as I can tell Steve Busch was the only meat and potatoes businessman on the panel.
The bias and stacked presentation is obvious and the general public can see right through it.
Post a Comment