Are we feeling the pain enough? We are seeing layoffs at the city and county governments at various levels. The crime rate is going up. There are budget cuts seemingly every day. The unemployment rate is pushing 7 percent, the highest since 1998. It is not the economy as much as our quality of life that is experiencing a downturn.There is a way to rise above the problems; it is called Job Opportunity and Business Sustainability Fund or jobs. The more jobs we have, the more positive the impact on revenue streams for the city and county.The jobs resolution will be on the April 7 ballot and is asking the voters to extend a .665 mill levy that has been in place since the late ’80s. How much are we talking about? Ten dollars a year on a house valued at $200,000. Keeping this mill levy will result in roughly $3.2 million a year that will be used to attract and retain primary jobs while marketing and promoting Colorado Springs.

This revenue is not going to some corporate slush fund like anti-growth proponents want you to think. It will go exclusively to create, attract and retain primary jobs. It will not go to the Economic Development Corp. It will be administered by a five-person committee that will counsel City Council on how to best use the money.Dave Bamberger, a local economist, did an analysis of the annual increase in primary jobs required to pay back $3.2 million at a net present value of 6 percent over 10 years. Guess what, that $3.2 million turns into $10.6 million and generates 1,000 primary jobs.

For those of you who say no, what is your idea to bring jobs to town? Before some little, wet-behind-the-ears McElhany minion says I am being an alarmist, it is just the facts that the game has changed — economic development is a very sophisticated, competitive business. To be a world-class city that many of us talk about, we need to ratchet up the economic development effort.We have lost, by some estimates, $1 billion of total investment. Analysis of 12 of the last 16 major prospect losses going back two years showed incentives were a factor or the factor on why we did not get the company. We are losing, and if we don’t do something like pass the jobs initiative, we will continue to be losers.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be a bit competitive, and losing is not high on my list of what I want to be when I grow up — and it shouldn’t be on the list of what Colorado Springs wants to be when we grow up. Have you felt enough pain? Do you want to see our city wither up, tumbleweeds blowing down Tejon Street and Academy Boulevard with boarded up storefronts because we don’t have the primary jobs to support businesses? Have you driven west on Garden of the Gods road lately? The empty buildings are stacking up. The opening scene from Clint Eastwood’s "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" come to mind.

The time is now. Vote yes on April 7 for jobs. Don’t be on the losing end of this resolution.

Earlier this week a community survey asking "would you approve of local government public funds (including special taxes or financial incentives) to be used to attract and retain businesses that provide good quality, high paying jobs?" was conducted. The envelope please — 68.2 percent replied yes.The alumni of the Colorado Springs Leadership Institute were also polled. You guessed it. Ninety-three percent came back agreeing that CSLI should endorse the jobs resolution. As one person wrote in the survey, "If we can’t focus on getting more and better jobs, then we are done as Colorado’s second largest city and might as well concede to Pueblo" and another remarked "a painless way to make a big difference."

Is there enough pain? Think about your kids, vote yes on jobs.  http://www.votejobsnow.com/
Lon Matejczyk is publisher of the Colorado Springs Business Journal. He can be reached at lon.Matejczyk@csbj.com or 329-5202.