Accenture Match Play

One of the things that seems to plague our community is the lack of proactive vision, we instead tend to flail and react to circumstances that could have been avoided. The potential loss of Spring Training and TIF funding for Rio Nuevo come to mind. We would do well to recognize and appreciate what is truly valuable to our community instead of ending up in crisis management.

Accenture Match Play is tremendously beneficial to our community. Accenture brings the top 64 golfers in the World to Tucson for this tournament. You may not be a golfer, but you should appreciate the boost that we receive from this world class tournament. This year 1.5 million dollars will be raised from the tournament to benefit 150 local charities. Millions of dollars in revenue flow in to local hotels, restaurants and retail businesses from the corporate sponsors and visitors attending the tournament. And it is incalculable the benefit our community receives from the world wide TV coverage of Accenture Match Play. If a picture is worth a thousand words imagine the impression the millions of viewers have of Tucson as they see the majestic mountains, sweeping desert vegetation and city views from atop the Ritz-Carlton Golf course in Dove Mountain. We should show our appreciation to Accenture as the sponsor and Cottonwood Properties the developer of Ritz-Carlton in Dove Mountain. It would also be wonderful if our city and county elected officials recognized and applauded these folks for benefiting our community, instead of waiting until Accenture looks for another place to play.

A time of great opportunity

I believe that we are living in a time of great opportunity. It is true that we are sinking into an economic recession, but this could be the best of times as well as the worst of times. In Tom Brokaw’s book “The Greatest Generation” the Great Depression was the catalyst that built the character of the generation whose selfless sacrifice led to victory in WW II. You will remember that prior to the Great Depression there was the Roaring Twenties, not unlike the prosperity and the decadence that we have experienced for many years. During the depression there were those that were opportunists (like old man Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life”), taking advantage of the suffering of others and those that gave opportunity to those that were suffering. Other people gave when they had little to give, took in their neighbors kids when they couldn’t feed their own, and gave comfort to those that were suffering in spite of their own pain.

In 2 Corinthians it says in part that God comforts us when we have trouble so that we can be a comfort to others. My hope and prayer is that during this time we will see more George Bailey’s emerge and that the Biblical principles of self sacrifice, compassion and giving would permeate our culture. I am reminded of the story of William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army. He was unable to travel because of a storm and was supposed to speak at a church. They asked him to send his message by telegraph; he wrote these words “others”. If we focus on others it will give hope to those that are suffering and it will lift our spirits as well. Nothing cures depression better than helping others.

TIF funding for Rio Nuevo

Recently Jonathan Paton (Arizona State Senator) appeared on the John C. Scott show on KVOI. John was querying him as to whether the TIF funding for Rio Nuevo might be pulled.  TIF stands for Tax Increment Financing. A tax increment is the difference between the amount of property tax revenue generated before TIF district designation and the amount of property tax revenue generated after TIF designation. The Arizona legislature has the power to pull the TIF funding for Rio Nuevo. With the budget the way it is, Senator Paton said that basically everything is on the table. In these economic times everything in business and government should be on the table.

I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing. It is a shame that when we are prosperous it leads to wastefulness. We have also witnessed narcissistic and profligate lifestyles flourishing when we should have been thanking God for our abundance. When times get tough we hit our knees and ask for divine guidance. I think our city officials need our prayers, and I for one commit to pray for them daily. And if the TIF funding is pulled, it could be a good thing. This will force our city officials to work with the private sector. Allowing developers to plan and profit from their labor is not a bad thing. If we lose the TIF funding, this will be the only way that Rio Nuevo is finished and our downtown revitalized.

Albuquerque is a prime example of how to get this done. Mayor Chavez (democrat) called the business community together and got their support and money and the project was completed. This could happen in Tucson. Also, Albuquerque is light years ahead of Tucson in attracting high tech industry. What with a beautiful downtown and a can do attitude in their planning and zoning department, they have attracted dozens of companies to their community. How many new high tech companies have we attracted in the last year? When I was visiting my family over Christmas in Albuquerque I was greeted by a billboard coming in that said “12,500 new high tech jobs in 2008”. It is amazing what can happen when a city competes for business and has a desirable environment that appeals to business. We have had our wakeup call; hopefully we will arise and shine.