As I anticipated, my last post about spending locally (a little snarky, I admit) promptly got a response from one of the campaigns.
Edge Wade, Mayoral candidate Jerry Wade’s wife, sent CBT an e-mail pointing out that her husband did make an attempt to buy everything locally for his campaign.
Mrs. Wade noted that she and Councilman Wade returned to the local store where they bought campaign signs for his Fourth Ward race three years ago. The store owner offered to order the signs for them and charge the store’s cost.
I quote from Mrs. Wade’s e-mail: ‘”But”, they said, “you would be foolish to do this when you can get them for about half the cost online.”‘
So they did, and the local business even donated t-shirts to the campaign, she said.
In the grand scheme of things, all the candidates’ election spending is a nice little boost to local businesses, because most of the money is spent locally. And you can’t blame a consumer for trying to get the best deal.
But, the fact that they ordered online is interesting, because I know Councilman Wade has been a critic of online spending. Even though the local business suggested ordering online, and it’s not really that much money, we should all remember that online sales undermine city revenue. In addition to sending money out of the area (unless it’s an online business based here, of which there are many), those purchases aren’t subject to state or local sales taxes.
After the election, it’d be nice to see the council really take the lead on educating people about the economics of shopping locally. Keeping dollars here supports community investment. I know Wade is well-versed on this subject (that was his job for years) and has spoken on the merits of spending locally often. This case, to be fair, is probably the exception rather than the rule for Mr. Wade.
Categories: Business, City Politics, Economy.
