Turns out that it was Mr. McRoy who was being fictitious about the EDC | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Commissioner McRoy's characterization of criticism concerning the costs incurred by the Economic Development Commission as being based on "fictitious"numbers is a cheap shot. Those numbers are a matter of public record and are outlined in the EDC's own documents. They have been discussed in Mr. McRoy's presence at open sessions of the county board and have been reviewed by the local media and the county staff. Unfortunately for us all, the commissioner's weak denials will do nothing to reverse the drain of $10.0 million which has accompanied his staunch support of one bad idea after another. The fact that Mr. McRoy just voted to take a taxpayer loss on the Quick Start II building of $1.5 million and then tries to deny that EDC's losses are real is typical of a politician who has overseen the loss of a hospital and the building of classrooms in places where students do not live.

    Beaufort County has spent more than $6.5 million mostly on an economic development strategy that was based on industrial parks and spec buildings with an occasional wasteful romp into ethanol and plastics. That strategy was pushed by "retired" Economic Director Tom Thompson, the Economic Development Commission/Committee of 100 and the Board of Commissioners based on the existence of a "report" which he claimed to have since 2003 and which he said showed that "86% of the prospects want business ready buildings." It turns out that this basic premise for spending over six million appears to be at best "fictitious." To use Jay's own words.

    The study cannot be produced. After months of pushing for a public examination of the research which was supposedly the underpinning of county's economic development strategy it finally became obvious that no such research is available from sources at the EDC, the county manager's office or the Committee of 100. We could check with the Vatican.

    Here are some previously posted videos that show the lack of oversight by the EDC and the Board of Commissioners.

    The first one, from the January 9, 2012 meeting, focuses on the "86%" Study. Don't miss Jay McRoy's defense of the EDC, on which he sat as the Commissioners' representative. He establishes that:

    1) he is not in any way familiar with the research that Mr. Thompson has touted since 2003 and which was the reasoning behind $6.5 million in spending for industrial parks and Quick Start buildings.

    2) he has no appreciation of the foolishness or consequences of having begun the industrial park program without any research in hand.

    3) he clearly does not understand how ridiculous it is to defend decisions regarding the commercial real estate market of 2003 by analyzing the residential real estate in 2011.



    The second clip came from the March 12, 2012 meeting following a presentation by Warren Smith who, again, complained that the EDC would not supply financial reports that had been requested. Listening carefully to Mr. McRoy defense reveals a terribly distorted defense for not supplying the documentation that is a public record and legally required to be provided by the EDC's own by-laws. The issue was not who "handled the money" as Mr. McRoy would like us to believe. The issue is finding out how the EDC spent the money it was given. We know how much was budgeted. Where did it actually get spent? Try to imagine a private business just handing money to its employees and trusting that they spend it wisely. With that in mind, listen to this clip:



    In the third clip is also from the March 12, 2012 meeting in which Warren Smith speaks to the lack of credibility surrounding the information the EDC was providing the Board of Commissioners. Commissioner McRoy demonstrates that he has no idea of how much money has been spent on the industrial parks. None whatsoever! He is even oblivious to the expenses being split between Washington and the Chocowinity industrial park less than a few miles from his own home. In Mr. McRoy's final effort to deflect attention away from the costs and losses associated with the industrial parks, he demonstrates that not only does he not understand how much they have cost, but that he is not aware of how big they are.



    Mr. Smith discusses the actual cash outlays for EDC over just the last twelve months, which include $500,000 in "clawbacks" for the failed job incentive grants guaranteed by the city and county for Carver Machine Works, with Mr. McRoy present.

    The fourth clip is from the July 2, 2012 Board of Commissioners' meeting. Note this was just after the Commission adopted a budget, defeating a motion to put the funding for economic development on hold until it was determined what was going to be done to reform the economic development program. What you should take away from this presentation is that the information that the Commission based the budget on was bogus.



    Once again, we extend the use of our facilities to Mr. McRoy to refute anything we have posted here or to defend his "numbers" or conclusions. We will publish it exactly as he submits it, reserving the right to respond in kind.