In Los Angeles there is an area between Westwood and Santa Monica that is home to several large federal installations (FBI, VA, various agency extension offices). If a fed gets laid off from one of those agencies, there is plenty of work available in LA’s entertainment, hospitality, manufacturing, and other industries.
In New York there are several large buildings holding federal agencies, such as the Ted Weiss Federal Building, Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (among leases in many other buildings). Similar to Los Angeles, federal employees getting laid off in New York can find employment in the area’s other industries, such as media, hospitality, and finance.
The same is true of San Diego, Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and many other cities.
The same is true of other capital cities, such as London, Berlin, and Madrid.
If a fed gets laid off in Montgomery or Prince George’s County, where is he going to go?
For several generations there was never a need to diversify the economic and social base, because so many of us worked directly or indirectly for the federal government. The only person who did anything in earnest to attract outside business has been Marc Elrich and his pursuit of bio-tech expansion into our area. Everybody else glorified and prioritized “small businesses” as a backbone of our economy. Here is the implication: if you were a systems engineer with the Department of Transportation, you can either wash dishes in our many small restaurants, or move.
Our local leaders and those who vote for them cannot accept that the American electorate has moved our cheese. Our US senators van Hollen and Alsobrooks continue to claim the job cuts are “illegal.” The same is true of all our county leaders. The more progressive they are (Glass, Mink, Stewart), the more they deny the fundamental change and continue to sell us a vision that they can restore the ancien régime.
Instead, they should a) accept responsibility for the lapse and b) diversify the county’s economy away from Uncle Sam, a recommendation that was made most recently in 2018. Many large-scale, marquis employers would love to hire the talented federal workforce that is facing or already faced layoffs. However, bringing in those employers takes at least a decade of good faith efforts on the part of local government. Those efforts include tax breaks, relaxed permitting, and less ridiculous legislation such as discrimination against hair styles.
This is where we are. We all bought into the progressive credo, and concurrently forsook our economic and social safety.
Our current election cycle is heating up. Listen to the candidates–to what they say and what they don’t say. If the only thing they articulate is vitriol against Trump, and then promise to create greater economic opportunity when they haven’t done so in the past 30 years, they are not solving your problem. If they talk about diversifying the local economy by recruiting large-scale employers, they are solving everyone’s problem.
Next time, vote a moderate Democrat, Republican, or independent. But if you can’t give up your progressive values, you can join me in the back room of a restaurant and wash the dishes.
