LEWISTON — Councilors aim to get themselves updated and back in charge of the city’s economic development efforts at a special workshop meeting Monday.
Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said workshop discussions will center on what the city’s economic development has done in the past year to promote jobs, increase property values and encourage better wages in the city.
“It’s about accountability of economic development for the city of Auburn,” LaBonte said. “I don’t think we’ve had an open conversation about the role the city plays in advancing that.”
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in Auburn Hall.
“We can’t do everything and there are numerous people locally and at the state level that take on parts,” he said. “So to me, this should be the start of trying to clarify what we are asking city staff to do.”
LaBonte has requested updates on results from last summer’s series of events to promote the downtown.
He also expects status reports on Tax Increment Finance money and how it’s been spent, how federal Community Development Block Grant money has been used and what efforts have been made to use the new Norway Savings Bank Arena as a money generator.
“I think we have been reacting and I think we need to be proactive,” LaBonte said. “I’m confident we can get to a place where that will happen, but we need to start somewhere.”
He also expects reports on the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council’s efforts in Auburn and benefits from the various festivals and events hosted in the Twin Cities.
“If Auburn is contributing staff to grow the overall economy, what can our staff do that will best advance that effort?” LaBonte asked.
But LaBonte said he wants the bulk of the meeting to be about where the city is going, not about what’s happened.
“These are some of the many moving parts that, if we are going to have an intelligent conversation, we need to have this information for context,” LaBonte said. “Some we have gotten before and some we have not, but it helps to paint the picture for us. If we just try to have an open-ended conversation, we’ll just get a dog-and-pony show that does not help us that much.”
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