An ode to Charlotte’s economic developers

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I feel sorry for those in Charlotte in the economic development business.

It’s hard enough already to attract companies as the country tries to bounce back from a recession and during a time when cities and states across the U.S. are handing out incentives like candy to get businesses to chose them.

Economic developers in Charlotte have all those challenges to overcome, but added to those is news story after news story that, to some, might make the city and North Carolina look like a backwater rife with intolerance of blacks and gays.

Indeed, economic developers have their work cut out for them.

Most recently, the head of the Charlotte National Association for the Advancement of Colored People generated headlines when he began talking about boycotting Charlotte in a move to keep sporting and other events from coming to the city, which Kojo Nantambu reportedly called “a racist bastion.”

The boycott talk came after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ticked off Nantambu by holding classes on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, using it as a makeup day after snow and ice closed schools.

The Seattle Times, USA Today and The New York Times were among papers that mentioned Charlotte in stories about the controversy over opening schools on the King holiday as a snow makeup day.

Before that, Bill James, perhaps the most colorful member of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, was the subject of postings on blogs across the country when he called gays sexual predators. James made the comment in an e-mail about the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning gay U.S. military members from openly serving. It’s not the first time James has made offensive remarks that ended up in news stories. In 2004, he described urban blacks as living “in a moral sewer,” and, four years later, in 2008, he compared illegal immigrants to prostitutes and drug dealers.

Before James’ anti-gay e-mail remarks, Wake County was making headlines in 2010 over a controversial proposal by the public school system to change the way students are assigned to schools, switching from a diversity-based plan to a neighborhood zone system. CNN was among national news outlets to pick up the story, which made a splash last year. This week, comedian Stephen Colbert mocked Wake County’s school board on his Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report.” The Washington Post even wrote about Wake County’s student-assignment system this week in a story with this headline: “Republican school board in N.C. backed by tea party abolishes integration policy.”

All of these negative headlines are one click away for anyone across the country or world researching Charlotte or North Carolina. While it’s hard to know whether people or businesses have decided not to relocate to the Queen City based on these stories, I’m sure they have at least left a bad taste in some people’s mouths.

Indeed, it must be tough to work in economic development in Charlotte these days. You’ve got to have nerves of steel.

If I were an economic developer, I’d be going crazy over this barrage of bad publicity, popping Xanax like Tic Tacs.

I’d be wondering every night before going to bed just what nutty thing someone is going to say or do the next day to land us in the national spotlight.

Editor Deon Roberts can be reached at [email protected].