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Ed Fitzgerald’s hyprocrisy on economic development: then and now

Ed Fitzgerald’s recent hypocrisy regarding his JobsOhio accusations isn’t the only instance where his actions are at odds with his words.

Ed Fitzgerald's hyprocrisy on economic development

Ed Fitzgerald, then and now

In 2011, he trashed the state’s economic development agency when American Greetings was looking to build a new headquarters, and JobsOhio offered incentives to keep them in Ohio.

“I don’t want to give them any incentive to move from one city in Cuyahoga County to another,” Fitzgerald said, especially if it means leaving a working class, blue-collar suburb like Brooklyn for a wealthier suburb that can afford more grants and tax incentives.

FitzGerald said he wants to end the “destructive bidding wars” for local businesses and doesn’t want the county’s growth concentrated in a few suburbs.

“It doesn’t make sense for huge corporate entities to just cross city lines, because the county as a whole isn’t growing,” said FitzGerald, a former mayor of Lakewood who recently hired the county’s first regional collaboration director.

But just last week, we learned that Fitzgerald has offered a $3 million loan for a company to do just that, to move from Berea into Westlake. From Henry Gomez of the Plain Dealer:

Two years later, FitzGerald has pledged a $3 million county loan to another local company relocating to Westlake. Equity Trust will take 100 jobs from Berea and 150 from Elyria in Lorain County and consolidate them in an old Cleveland Clinic building.

Once again, we see that what Ed Fitzgerald DOES is counter to what Ed Fitzgerald SAYS while he is criticizing Governor Kasich.

What happened to not giving an incentive to move from one city in Cuyahoga County to another?

Rob Frost, Cuyahoga County GOP Chairman, wonders the same thing.

“Given Executive FitzGerald’s criticism of the performance of JobsOhio and, specifically, American Greetings, it’s quite hypocritical for his administration to want to treat this as a signature success,” said Rob Frost, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party. “It may be good on its face, but it doesn’t speak well of his leadership when he’s undertaking the same things that he has condemned under Gov. Kasich.”

So far, Ed’s campaign has been all about pointing fingers, and completely lacking of much that he’d do differently in leading the state.

It makes it even worse when he employs the same policies that he attempts to criticize. Let’s hope that Ohio voters aren’t fooled.



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Third Base Politics is an Ohio-centric conservative blog that has been featured at Hot Air, National Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and others.

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