DECEMBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 15
POINT OF VIEW
ECONOMIC COMEBACK
WORKING TOGETHER KEY
as local nonprofits educating our
residents on the benefits of renewable
energy and living sustainably. Success
was contingent on all taking on the cause.
While climate change still looms on the
horizon, another peril has taken root of
our lives, our economy, and our future.
I would argue that again we need a combination
“Big problems require bold solutions.”
of federal and state leadership
and assistance, combined with a local
approach from a policy standpoint.
While some federal support arrived
through programs like the Paycheck
Protection Program and program-based
assistance trickled down to municipalities
from the CARES Act, local
governments are facing a budget crisis
of unprecedented proportions and
need direct assistance. Small business
continues to struggle and the effect on
the downtown landscape has been catastrophic.
However, communities have
been coming together in an incredible
way.
Business improvement districts and
chambers of commerce have ramped up
efforts to incentivize shopping at local
businesses. Local governments have
streamlined approvals to providing
innovative solutions for outdoor and
tented dining and entertainment. Nonprofits
have worked to provide meals and
other necessities to those most in need,
with those numbers growing by the day.
Still, it is not enough.
Big problems require bold solutions,
as was seen with the Great Depression
and Great Recession of 2008. We need a
federal stimulus package that will take
on the infrastructure crisis facing our
country, in turn stimulating the economy
by putting people back to work and
retaining and attracting residents and
businesses to our region.
In addition, industrial development
agencies (IDAs) are not the enemy. IDAs
provide municipalities with the tools
to transform vacant and underutilized
properties producing little to no taxes into
projects that work to retain and attract
residents, businesses and jobs, while also
providing reliable revenue streams for
the affected tax jurisdictions.
At a time where blue-collar jobs with immediate
availability are at a premium,
construction puts people back to work,
and locally. This cannot and should not
be dismissed.
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Health plan options for those with:
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those who need community based long term
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events@agewellnewyork.com
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BY ANN FANGMANN
Glen Cove Industrial Development Agency
and Community Development Agency
executive director
Around 15 years ago as a research assistant
working on climate change policy,
I had proposed both a top-down and
bottom-up approach to the imminent
danger of sea level rise.
The Kyoto Protocol seemed as important
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