Council holds meeting on economic development

FORT BRAGG >> The Fort Bragg City Council has called for two special sessions — outside of its normal meeting time, and scheduled for 6 p.m. on the Mondays between the next two regular council meetings — to dedicate to the topic of economic development.

According to city documents, Vice Mayor Jessica MorsellHaye initiated these meetings “in an effort to create a common knowledge base and frame of reference to facilitate decision making related to this important topic.”

The meeting will be held on March 1 and 15, via Zoom webinar. Information about how to join the webinar is available on the city’s website at city.fortbragg.com.

Assistant City Planner Sarah McCormick said there will be a questionnaire soon that will be made available to the public, so that anyone with questions or concerns can make their thoughts known to the council. That questionnaire will be made available on the city’s website as well as on Facebook and other city social media pages in the next week or two.

Morsell-Haye invited Paul Garza, Jr., board chair of the West Business Development Center, to present during these meetings. Garza retired to Fort Bragg in 2013, after a career of 40 years in economic development.

“As we all know, prosperity makes life easier, it gives us time to enjoy our families and friends … it also makes it much easier to manage a city,” Garza said. “In my long-term experience, I believe it comes down to good planning and broad economic development.”

The first meeting was focused on “the big picture,” Garza said, with a refresher course for the council on what economic development is, and the difference between development and economic growth.

“If you get only one take away from these presentations,” Garza said, I would argue that this is the one you take to heart: Understanding the difference between economic development and economic growth.”

Garza told the council that economic growth is the measure of the value of the output of goods and services within a time period, and economic development is a measure of the