What’s your frequency, CMDC?

When it comes to growth and development in and around Columbia, try using an imaginary radio dial to sort out the players and the groups they represent. Since each group is really just a little radio station with thoughts and ideas on individual “frequencies,” it’s an interesting exercise to see where each one is situated on the “dial,” how much power they have, and, in the end, what’s their “rating” and survivability.

In the past, the “stations” one could tune in included the mayor and members of the city council, plus the city’s professional staff. Other receivable “stations” included the people who, with their advisors and counselors, wanted to rezone a tract of land. Noticeably absent from the dial were neighborhood representatives and those who spoke for various special interest groups.

Just as the real radio dial has become increasingly congested with folks who want to broadcast, our fictitious development dial is also rather saturated these days. Everyone has an opinion and the right to express it reasonably. Deliberative bodies such as the Columbia City Council are obligated to gather and hear public comment. The Council is bound by rules laid down by the 1945 state constitution and the 1949 home rule charter and is guided by good taste, ethics and honesty in dealing with the issues.

Some of the “stations” on today’s development dial include the players already referred to. Other, newer participants on the spectrum when it comes to development include Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI), the University of Missouri, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the County of Boone and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Then there are organizational stations such as Smart Growth, the Sierra Club and neighborhood associations, along with numerous private citizens who want air time.

Scanning across this fictitious dial in recent months, listeners heard from a new broadcaster we’ll call Station CMDC. The initials stand for Central Missouri Development Council, which this month ran a series of newspaper ads questioning the City Council’s priorities during its annual retreat at the Lake of the Ozarks.

While the business community would probably concur on some of the issues raised by Station CMDC’s ads, I believe the community has also questioned the tenor of these messages and wondered whether there’s a more seductive “format” the station should adopt in order to accomplish what the group wants to do.

A real radio station is always tweaking its format. Maybe that’s what Station CMDC should consider doing. Rather than trying to bell the figurative, adversarial cat known as the Columbia City Council, Station CMDC should take a hint from an old radio programmer and sweeten its format with a touch or two of conciliatory catnip and see what happens.

There’s been much ado about the purported anti-business composition of the Columbia City Council as it is presently constituted, but that’s a canard. To the surprise of some of us, this council has already begun to deal with issues that have been troubling the business and development community. Changes in procedure are already under consideration. At the same time, individual council members are ramping up contact with their constituents through something as basic as periodic neighborhood forums.

While Station CMDC is a welcome addition to the spectrum of public discussion, it’s another older, more seasoned broadcaster — Station REDI – that I want to salute today. For years, REDI has been one of the keystones of area economic development, and it is now in the throes of revitalization. Maybe Station REDI doesn’t yet have any bulletins of good news to deliver, but it does have a veteran “station manager” now on the scene, Bob Black. The former Columbia economic development director is one of those unsung heroes quietly working to place the touts of our community before decision makers around the world who might want to locate a plant or some other facility in this area.

Black’s comprehensive analysis of Columbia’s development track record – and unfortunately in recent years it has been a collection of misses and near misses – is summarized on the adjacent page of this CBT and merits your attention.

Al Germond is the host of the “Columbia Business Times Sunday Morning Roundtable” every Sunday at 8:15 a.m. on kfru. He can be reached at [email protected].