I understand why Gov. John Carney wanted to get rid of DEDO, the Delaware Economic Development Office, after the office spent the Markell years throwing taxpayer money with great fanfare at ventures that went tits-up (looking at you, Fisker!).
What I don’t understand is why he replaced it with a “public-private partnership” that essentially hands taxpayer money to a bunch of business people (with a few pols thrown in) to disburse. And the worst part is that this “Delaware Prosperity Partnership” wasn’t even formed for the dubious purpose of luring other companies to Delaware — it was formed to give money to companies that are already here.
That was re-affirmed this week by the body’s new permanent head, William Kurt Foreman, who was lured back to the East Coast from Oklahoma City, where he ran — how’d you guess? — the local chamber of commerce.
Here’s the part that really beggars belief: The DPP has a budget of $3.4 million. Foreman’s pay is $240,000. That means over 14%7% of the organization’s budget is going to the salary of its executive director. I thought forming stupid agencies to waste public money was the exclusive purview of Sen. Harris McDowell, but this proves me wrong.
“Only” $2 million of the budget is public money, but that’s enough to pay the state’s portion of education funding for about 200 kids. Instead we’ll spend it on letting a bunch of businesscritters sit around and decide which of their peers should be rewarded for keeping their business in Delaware.
Theoretically, Republican Ken Simpler would be worse. But don’t be surprised if Carney’s ineptitude gives voters a reason to give the GOP a chance.