Politics & Government

Heim Campaign Stands By Statements on Economic Development

The Oxford Democrats maintain that Temple's economic development record is sub-par.

The following letter was submitted to Patch by David Heim, Democratic candidate for first selectman of Oxford.

We stand by our statements regarding how George Temple has tried to mislead the voters of Oxford about his record on economic development. He tries to take credit for projects that he and his Economic Development Director had nothing to do with, either in their initial approval or in the companies' decisions to expand. He tries to take credit for the newest phase of Oxford Greens, for instance, which was approved in 2004. He might as well try to claim that all the residential construction in town was his idea.

What's more, Temple cannot point to a single new commercial or industrial development that was begun in Oxford in the last two years, except for the Peachwave Yogurt store. There has been none. Temple tries to take credit for projects in the pipeline for as long as six years, but he and his Economic Development Director have done nothing to add new projects to the pipeline. The Heim-McKane campaign has always been clear on this point: We will work with the developers, businesses, land owners, area legislators, and other town officials to do whatever it takes to get those stalled projects moving again. We will replace the current economic development team with people who have a proven record of success in this area. And we will work aggressively to bring new commercial and industrial development to town.

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Temple also tries to create confusion about the grand list. Data from the tax assessor shows a 2.7 percent decline in the total industrial grand list on Temple's watch. He can't explain that away.  He also can't deny that there was a near-doubling of the industrial grand list under his predecessor. Those numbers are facts, not mudslinging.

Finally, Temple tries to create confusion about what economic development means. The Heim-McKane campaign has always been clear: Generate more tax revenue from commercial and industrial enterprises to broaden the tax base and ease the tax burden on homeowners.

Find out what's happening in Oxfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Heim-McKane campaign has a plan and a vision for Oxford. If Temple has a plan, it's as empty as his 2011 campaign promise to make economic development his top priority.

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