This is basically the municipal equivalent of a caveman discovering fire for the first time.
“Wait… you mean the City of Antioch should have people whose actual job is to attract businesses, grow the tax base, fill vacant properties and recruit investment?”
Yes. Welcome to economic development.
And in Antioch’s case, welcome back after what feels like more than a decade in the wilderness.
On Monday, during a special meeting, the Antioch City Council is being asked to consider re-establishing a standalone Economic Development Department with its own director. The staff report talks about executive-level accountability, investment recruitment, entrepreneurship, workforce partnerships, emerging industries, innovation and revenue generation.
Wonderful.
Now do it.
Because at this point, we really don’t care how Antioch packages the department. Call it Economic Development. Call it Business Development. Give it a director, manager, coordinator, specialist or Chief Officer of Filling Empty Buildings.
We care about results.
Antioch has failed miserably at meaningful economic development for over a decade, and you don’t need a consultant or another study session to figure that out. Drive around the city.
Look at the vacant lots.
Look at the empty buildings.
Look at downtown.
Look at properties that have sat underutilized while surrounding cities have figured out how to attract restaurants, retail, entertainment, employers and investment.
Look at existing businesses that have had to operate next to vacant or deteriorating properties that become a drag on the entire commercial area.
And if we have to watch another cringe Les Edwins video pointing out the obvious, shoot me please!
Sadly, that is the scoreboard.
It’s been the scoreboard since at least 2018 when Kwame Reed was hired as economic development director only for the community to find out he was hired as a solo guy in a department of one—are you kidding me? They also opted in 2023 to “reimagine their economic development commission“, so silly. The economic development issues go back further, but you get the point.
So yes, absolutely bring back a dedicated Economic Development Director. Give that person authority. Give the department resources. Fill the positions. Recruit somebody aggressive enough to pick up the phone, chase businesses, work with property owners, identify development opportunities and actually sell Antioch.
The staff report itself identifies the risks of maintaining the status quo: lost investment opportunities, limited revenue growth, reduced responsiveness to businesses, limited innovation and fragmented accountability.
No kidding… that is why under the previous mayor, sales tax was down $1 million and by next year, could be down $2 million per year. Pathetic for a city approaching 120k residents.
Antioch doesn’t need another person sitting behind a desk waiting for businesses to magically discover the city. Economic development needs to become a sales operation.
Go recruit. Go compete. Go close deals.
Find out why businesses choose Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg, Concord or elsewhere and figure out what Antioch needs to do differently.
Work with existing businesses before they leave.
Identify the City’s worst vacant commercial properties and develop strategies for getting them occupied — like a vacancy tax like the City of Martinez.
Get property owners engaged.
Recruit restaurants and entertainment.
Pursue employers and emerging industries.
Build relationships with developers and investors.
And for the love of God, develop an actual strategy for downtown Antioch instead of continuing to watch opportunity after opportunity disappear, like the El Campanil Theatre.
There also needs to be accountability. If Antioch is going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on economic-development personnel, residents should eventually be able to see measurable results: businesses recruited, businesses retained, vacant spaces filled, investment generated, jobs created, projects advanced and additional revenue produced.
Otherwise, we’re just rearranging boxes on an organizational chart.
The proposed director could cost roughly $393,000 annually in salary and benefits at the top step, although eliminating the Economic Development Program Manager would partially offset that expense. For FY 2026/27, staff estimates the additional budget impact at approximately $92,473 if the director is funded for six months.
Fine.
If Antioch finds the right person and actually empowers them to produce results, that could be money well spent.
But no more lipstick on a pig.
No more reorganizations that generate new titles while producing the same results. No more fancy economic-development terminology without economic development. No more celebrating meetings, studies and conversations as accomplishments.
Antioch has spent far too long talking about its potential.
At some point, somebody has to turn that potential into businesses, jobs, investment and revenue.
So create the department.
Hire the director.
Fill the team.
Give them measurable goals.
Then get out of their way and let them work…. I mean that, get out of their way!
Antioch doesn’t need another economic-development discussion. It needs economic development.
Congratulations, the caveman found the fire.
Great.
Now somebody please figure out how to use it.
Mike Burkholder
Publisher of ContraCosta.news
[email protected]
