Markell directs the Narrative and the Unions fall in line behind him - Are you Pro-Power Plant or Anti-Jobs?

By Elizabeth Scheinberg

I've been watching the debate over the Data Center and its accompanying Power Plant proposed to be located at UD's STAR campus on Rt 896 with mild interest. The data center won't affect me, I live in Newark, but not close enough to be bothered by the noise and pollution. The jobs that this project is said to bring could be potentially useful, I've been out of work for a year, in part b/c I suspended by job search to help my daughter through a mental health crisis last year. And, there are other challenges to finding employment - I need "mom hours," like most stay-at-home parents who look to resume a paying career, my employment needs to conform around my responsibilities to my children - which are little more complex than most as I do have child classified with a severe disability. Let's not forget that there is a true shortage of jobs for parents like me. I have a bachelors and 12 years of consistent community service on my resume, but few employers care to take the time to translate how adding someone with my skills might enrich their company. Hey, Gov, you reading this? We really need more jobs that conform to the needs of parents, not just employers!

Let's talk about Narrative. It's the messaging, the branding, the spin. And it's becoming more critical that the constituents take the narrative back from our Governor. Maybe I have soft spot for the folks who will impacted by the Newark Data Center and Power Plant - or maybe it's idea that those folks bought homes and had a certain expectation about the quality of life into which they were buying. Or maybe I'm just tired of watching good people being vilified by our Governor.

What's my issue:

Gov. Jack Markell used his final town hall meeting Thursday to forcefully promote plans to build a data center and power plant at the former Chrysler site in Newark. http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013310110050

He said Delawareans should get behind projects that create jobs, especially during a difficult time for the state’s economy.“We all want to create jobs,” Markell said. “The one thing we have to do is we have to stop saying no.”

In general, I don't see the public saying "no" to jobs. In fact, I hear them begging our government to help create them. Take the 141 overpass at I95. Construction started there three plus years ago. It's still not done. The slower these employees work, the longer they will stay employed. And I have don't hear anyone carrying on or complaining about the nuicense this project has created.

Let's look at Fisker - potentially Markell's biggest economic flop (he's still got a couple more years to dig us deeper.) Subsidies and tax reductions, state aid, and huge failure to the tune of $21 million. The plant has ended up in an auction and the jobs promised never materialized.

Let's talk about the data center and the narrative - Our Governor has turned the dynamic on its side and categorized the opposition as anti-employment tree-huggers. And local union leadership has fallen in line behind the governor:

The line drew cheers from a large section of an audience of more than 100 at Delcastle Technical High School, including Robert Carl of the Insulators and Allied Workers union, Local 42.
“When jobs that we consider are good-paying come into Delaware and they face these roadblocks, that’s frustrating to us,” Carl said in an interview.
“I understand that the environment is important, and I think so too. But we had a tough few years when it comes to jobs,” Carl said. “I think (Markell) was speaking very carefully, but he seems to understand that.” http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013310110050

Ahhh, the spin and it kept spinning at the Newark City Council meeting last night:

Union leaders also took to the microphone, stressing the poor economic climate and the need for the 340 new jobs – 290 full time – that The Data Centers LLC has promised to create. The unions pledged to fight for good-paying jobs for workers.“I’ve seen this before when I started at the Newark assembly plant. Some of these very same groups [opposing the data center] tried to close the assembly plant when I was there,” said Samuel E. Lathem, state president of the Delaware AFL-CIO, who worked at Chrysler for 39 years. “Shame on them.”

Anyone remember how many jobs Fiskar promised back in 2009?

At the time, union workers were promised the chance to fill many of the 2,000 factory jobs producing the plug-in electric sedan. It was unclear Monday how many of those positions had ever been filled. http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/autos/fisker_electric_car_loan/index.htm

The reality: At its height, Fisker created about 100 jobs in Delaware - two of which went to union leaders who became salaried Fisker employees.

Two longtime auto union members join Fisker as salaried staffers. Joe Riccio was the chairman of United Auto Workers Local 435; Dave Myers was the local's president. Riccio has taken a human-resources position; Myers' title is business development associate. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120923/NEWS/309230048/How-Delaware-landed-Fisker-Automotive

What troubles me is that various blue-collar worker unions have fallen inline with the Governor's narrative. Hundreds of union auto-workers stood with the Governor on Oct 27, 2009 for the monumental recession-ending announcement that Fisker has chosen Delaware. Few, if any, who turned out for the press opportunity ever entertained a job at the old Boxwood Plant.

One would think that the Fisker fiasco would leave this leadership wary. Apparently, few have the capacity to learn from past mistakes. The unions stand again with Governor who promises employment time and again and often fails to deliver. The relationship has become so warped that the unions are now bashing the public.

So what happens when residents take the narrative back:

“We are not radical environmentalists. We are not job haters, or extremists. Some of us have never even been politically active before. But we are residents, parents, children, students and UD alumni who are concerned about our well-being and what the best for our community,” Arenson said. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20131015/NEWS/310150056/Public-sounds-off-Newark-data-center-power-plant-proposal

Even the University of Delaware's own employees are wary:

Faculty members raised several concerns, including noise levels, environmental emissions and whether the project could actually deliver the jobs as advertised. They also noted that The Data Centers’ model is untested – the company hasn’t built a data center elsewhere. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20131015/NEWS/310150056/Public-sounds-off-Newark-data-center-power-plant-proposal

And then there's this:

During the Council meeting, two residents cited a portion of Newark’s 15-year electric contract with UD – the city’s largest electric customer. They said a subsection on energy charges in the contract gives UD the option of procuring electricity from a “power producer” located on premises owned or controlled by the university.
Resident Jen Wallace worried that, if UD would decide to purchase its power from TDC, “the city has the potential to lose a lot of revenue.”
That potential revenue shortfall, cautioned resident Amy Roe, could mean a tax hike for Newark residents.

Now, you tell me, is Jack right? Are these residents and employees anti-jobs or are they pro-quality-of-life, fiscally-responsible citizen advocates?

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