It’s The Economy
And Bob Parks is running on an answer

by Chris Collins, 7/18/08

Bob Dylan once wrote that you don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. And for Republican Bob Parks, it was pretty obvious that things weren’t going to blow his way in the 2006 race to represent the Second Franklin District.

“The one thing I heard most from people was that they liked my economic development ideas, but because of what was going on, they were never going to vote for a Republican,” Parks said.

“People clearly wanted to send a message to George Bush regarding the war,” Parks said. “But my question, two years later, is, ‘did that message you sent put one more meal on your dinner table or help you make one mortgage payment?’ I don’t think so.”

Parks never ended up getting the signatures to get on the ballot against incumbent Chris Donelan that year. But in 2008, we have a different story, as Parks apparently already has the paperwork in place to launch what he believes will be a serious challenge to Donelan, one which will he hopes will highlight the differences between the two candidates regarding economic development.

“I think it’s very important to realize that we are not a priority in Boston,” Parks said. “We are on our own here, and the sooner we understand that, the better.”

The Parks economic development plan effectively deals out Boston and goes directly to Washington—specifically, the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“What I propose is that HUD declare this district an ‘economic empowerment zone,’” Parks said. “That would allow all existing businesses within the district to qualify for federal tax breaks and easing of restrictions, which would allow them to hire more people.”

Once the empowerment zone is in place, Parks would go to each individual board of selectmen and find out what type of businesses they want in their towns.

“The goal would be to bring at least two major corporations to each town, and they would have to commit to stay a minimum of ten years,” Parks said. “Once that happens, we will suddenly become the most business-friendly sliver of land in the state.”

Parks said his proposal is an “action plan” that might just help fill some half-empty industrial parks he says were built on an economic development potential that has gone largely unrealized.

“A lot of these places were built with what I call the ‘Field of Dreams’ mentality—that ‘if you build it, they will come,’” Parks said. “But there really is no economic incentive to move from one business hostile area to
another.”

“Once we achieve this economic opportunity zone status, that will no longer be the case,” Parks added.

Some may view the Parks plan not much more than a “pie in the sky” scenario. But he says it’s much more likely to have an immediate impact on the region’s economy than Governor Deval Patrick’s much-ballyhooed $1 billion dollar, ten-year “life sciences” initiative.

“We’re supposed to be this cash-strapped state, but suddenly we’ve got $1 billion to spend on one industry?” Parks said. “I don’t think we should be rewarding one business sector over another, because we have a lot (of sectors) that are trying to grow, and who is a politician to decide which one is better than another?”

Speaking of “politicians,” it’s pretty obvious by his tone that Parks doesn’t think too much of his opponent, whom he clearly believes suffers from an “entitlement” mentality that’s become all too prevalent among career politicians these days.

“If I’m elected, I’m going to make this about me,” Parks said. “What I mean by that is, I’m going to demand that the people I serve will be treated by their government with the same way a representative would be treated.”

Parks used the response to the most recent flooding of Eagleville Road in Orange as an example of how government can drop the ball when addressing the needs of ordinary citizens.

“Do you think if Representative Donelan had 12 inches of water in his basement and lost everything that the (state’s) response ‘there’s nothing we can do’ would be acceptable?” Parks said. “He would be made whole, and yet there are people that have lost their homes and were forced to move out because of mold and damage issues.”

“If that were me, I’d be on the phone to every state agency I could and demand that they treat those people as if it were my house that was damaged,” Parks added.

Parks recently took aim at Donelan’s efforts to promote passage of a $3 million dollar grant for a North Quabbin Mixed-Use Development Grant which Parks said shows that Donelan has “seemingly showed renewed interest in economic development,” even though it took two years to get the bill past the overwhelmingly Democratic State Legislature.

“When politicians see us losing our jobs, they say ‘that’s too bad,’ but when they are about to lose their jobs, everything is an emergency,” Parks said.

“We’re probably going to see (Donelan) get more proactive and do more things for the district, and the question I’m going to ask is ‘what took you so long, and why are you doing this now?’”

I, for one, cannot wait for that debate to happen.