Meanwhile, in the City of Richmond… The Economic Development Authority is ducking transparency in the $74 million Stone Brewing project, a major economic development coup for the city and the state. At issue is the role of the Richmond EDA, which is helping to finance construction of the brewery and related restaurant. On Oct. 22, the EDA picked Hourigan Construction from a field of six contractors.
EDA officials won’t say if Hourigan submitted the lowest bid, on the grounds that the final contract has not been signed yet. Another key question is who Hourigan’s subcontractors are. As Graham Moomaw reports for the Times-Dispatch, the EDA considers not only price but its track record of delivering projects on time and its ability to meet a target of using minority-owned businesses for subcontracts.
The Dwight Jones administration has aggressively pushed economic development such as the Shockoe Slip ballpark, Boulevard redevelopment and the Washington Redskins training camp, in which the city plays a prominent role in financing. Unlike entirely privately financed deals, projects funneled through the EDA are subject to the minority set-aside requirement.
Writes Paul Goldman, a Richmond political activist in a recent email missive:
The EDA is being used for one reason in the Brewery deal: to get around city and state law [that] mandates the use of an open, transparent bid process creating a level playing field and insuring the best result for the city’s taxpayers.
The key to this backroom deal, as the others, is the special “wink, wink” for political influence peddlers and their cronies.
Are buddies of the mayor getting special treatment? Who knows. But that’s the suspicion when city government takes an active role in the financing of economic development projects. Let me be clear: There is no evidence of any wrong-doing. But “trust me” just doesn’t work in this day and age. The public would like assurances that there’s no hanky-panky. Open up the books, please.
— JAB