Today I’ll depart for Texas with a delegation of San Diego business leaders. Our mission: figure out why Texas keeps taking San Diego jobs – and come back with ideas on how to stop it. -Carl
Joins Business Leaders To Study Job Creation
San Diego mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio will join a delegation of business leaders tomorrow for a three-day trip to Texas to study efforts to attract and create jobs.
“When it comes to promoting job growth, city leaders could learn a lot from Texas,” said DeMaio. “City leaders must commit to study and act on all ideas that will help get San Diegans back to work.”
DeMaio has already outlined a number of job creation initiatives in his “Pathway to Prosperity” Plan – and says he’s looking forward to including lessons learned from this trip in additional policy proposals.
Economic data demonstrates that Texas has fared much better than San Diego in this rough economy. Recent unemployment numbers place Austin at 6.5% unemployed, compared to 10.2% in San Diego County. One reason for this is the amount of jobs leaving California for business-friendly states like Texas. In fact, a recent article in the Austin Statesman began with the sobering statement, “When the experts go looking for new jobs to bring to Austin, California is a prime hunting ground.”
“We cannot afford to keep losing good paying jobs to other cities that are willing create a more attractive environment for them,” added DeMaio. “The policies we pursue in San Diego will determine whether we are providing jobs for San Diegans, or sending our jobs to other states like Texas.”
On the first day of the trip, DeMaio will meet with business owners, conduct site visits of major economic zones, examine Austin’s successful “cohesive permitting process,” and visit sites dedicated to developing Clean-Tech and High-Tech jobs in the region.
On the second day, DeMaio will meet with representatives from every level of government, business organizations, and stakeholders in economic development to learn their perspective on what public policy initiatives have contributed to Texas’ success with job creation and retention.
The business delegation trip to Texas is being organized by the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce. DeMaio is paying for all of his travel expenses out of his personal funds.