MDD vote about Rockdale’s future, not its present

(Editors note: This week makes 13 years since Rockdalians voted to create an MDD. Good things have already happened and more are on the way.)

Congratulations, Rockdale. Enough of you put the town first and voted to create a Municipal Development District. Rockdale now can be more competitive in recruiting more business.

I got a couple of calls during the election, asking me if it would be worth a vote. I told people to view this half-cent sales tax as an investment in this town’s future. Some were willing to do that.

Economic development doesn’t just happen by accident. The only reason Alcoa located here was because it powered its plant with the huge lignite coal reserves in the area.

Another large company won’t just fall in our laps. There are too many proactive cities out there competing for new jobs. And, yes, it does take money.

It’s not about who’s on the city council or if we’re happy about everything that’s been tried by the current council. Let’s be big enough to put whatever problems have occured behind us and get moving toward a more competitive, more prosperous future. To do otherwise is just to let bitterness fester.

This vote was about what Rockdale will be like 10 and 20 years from now. It was about whether or not our children will have any jobs here in the future, or if we just capitulate their loss to the state’s bigger cities.

One of the callers I spoke with said this town was no longer “business friendly” or “people friendly.” Is this true or is this just sour grapes?

Whichever it is, we can all do our best to be friendly to people passing through, to those visiting our community, to those in our places of business. Where city government is concerned, we should be willing to do whatever is necessary, within reason, to bring business.

Rural Texas still has a long way to go. Someone at the state level needs to advocate for it or we’ll continue to lose population and more and more jobs will continue to move to cities (which offer economic incentives for jobs).

Our county must also get involved in the development effort and not just wait for the state to lend a hand.

Next step for Rockdale will be to find appointees that live in the district willing to serve as a director. Those of us who have been on the existing Rockdale Development Board will probably not be involved as active directors anymore. MDD directors will make the decisions that will guide development efforts from this point on.

Let’s get moving in the right direction, Rockdale. We have lost a lot of good jobs in the past year and we must do something to become competitive in the jobs hunt. This vote was a good first step.