INC NEWS - Letter: Not in Durham, DDI (Sunday's Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Durham non-profits and community groups (struggling
for limited funds from local government) may be
interested in what this letter has to say.

~John 

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Letter: Not in Durham, DDI
Herald-Sun, 5 June 2005
 
Downtown Durham, Inc. has admitted that it does, in
fact, try to get Durham businesses whose leases are up
for renewal to move downtown. In its Sept. 22, 2004
letter to The Herald-Sun, DDI President Bill Kalkhof
wrote: "If we are informed that a business is nearing
the end of its lease in a location outside of
downtown, we will discuss with the business whether it
would be interested in locating downtown." 

Our tax dollars shouldn't go to an organization that
undermines our neighborhoods by actively recruiting
businesses to move from one part of Durham to another.
The city and county should halt their annual subsidies
of $181,527 to DDI until it agrees to stop recruiting
other Durham businesses. 

That money ($47,500 from the County and $134,027 from
the City) would help many of our deserving non-profits
whose requests are being denied. Downtown booster
organizations in Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Wilmington
receive no taxpayer money for operations. Instead,
they raise money from the private sector. 

If DDI got no taxpayer money, they would have every
right to lobby the city and county for whatever they
wanted. But why are local taxpayers subsidizing DDI to
push for the controversial, publicly-subsidized
theater next to Capitol Broadcasting's project
(instead of someplace else downtown)? 

Finally, DDI needs to stop making secret deals in
smoky back rooms. Any casual observer of DDI's debacle
with Clear Channel and the proposed theater can see
it's far better to work together in the sunshine --
rather than trying to work out some side deal in the
shadows. 

John Schelp
Durham