Corvallis Oregon is not so different from any other community in the Nation. The Economy has been sluggish for the past year or more. Business leaders want solutions but are never very certain of what they should do to improve their lot. The culture of most communities is to get to a microphone and lament about the poor revenue forecasts and possible budget cuts, or worse discuss adding, at taxpayer cost, a position that will, maybe, for sure result in a "win - win" for all or get out the Ouija Board, and hope for the best. Typically the monkey is removed from the back of those that bear the responsibilty onto the back of one nebulous individual who allegedly can/will get the job done while in the same breath cost the community government a bundle of money with no measurable results.
Corvallis may want to consider looking inward rather than hire some consultant or headhunter to find that individual that can make everything better in the local economy. If this were possible Corvallis would not be able to hire that person because a city like New York City or Chicago would have already paid a million or more dollars for that individuals services. Back to my point about looking inward. I would offer some cogent thoughts to local Corvallis leadership that might not fit into the paradigm that Corvallis leadership wants as the answer to turning the ship around. There are individuals with proven results from their earlier careers that may want to act as independent contractors and will provide some level of transparency and accountability and maybe offer some strategies that will bear fruit and some economic dollars to Corvallis. If Corvallis leadership reads this essay I welcome comments and would like to establish a dialogue in order to exchange ideas.
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