To the editor:
It is time to fix the Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs). IDAs were meant to stimulate the economy and for decades they have been granting tax breaks and incentives with the promises of new jobs in this area. It is no coincidence that during this time our economy has continued to deteriorate and, if anything, we have lost good jobs.

IDAs have done nothing to help the economy and it is time to stop giving away our tax dollars for low paying, minimum wage jobs that would be here anyway. We need to demand that employers who take advantage of our IDA programs create permanent, real jobs. We need new wage standards for those jobs, so that our next generation — those who are now graduating from high school and college — can find good jobs and stay here. We need prevailing wage for construction that is done with IDA backing.

We need all of this now. We have every reason to ask employers to create better jobs than minimum wage. We need to replenish the local tax money that IDAs give away by creating new jobs. This is the only way to keep property taxes down.

Big business lobbyists have had their way with this program for long enough and it is time to ignore their false claims that good jobs somehow hurt the economy. They have operated for decades without any job standards and look what that has gotten us. It is time to try something new.

Daniel Dougherty, president
Oswego County Labor Council