Democrats ride elevator ---- public gets the shaft

The West Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority opened the $30 million Tamarack arts and crafts center at Beckley in 1997.

The idea was to give the state's artisans access to the much larger interstate market that uses the 88-mile-long toll road.

"This is a home run for West Virginia," said the chairman of the authority's economic development committee at the time. "There's no question about it."

But the reality is that financially, Tamarack has had a string of strikeouts. Not only did the public invest $36 million into the project, but it has had to cover the operating losses for Tamarack, giving the public a negative rate of return on its investment.

The center lost almost $1.8 million in 2002, more than $2 million in 2003; $2.3 million in 2004; $2.8 million in 2005 and more than $2.5 million in 2006. That's a lot of money that could not be used to maintain or improve the roadway.

In recent years, changes brought under the Manchin administration brought those losses closer to $1 million a year. That's better, but still unacceptable.

http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Editorials/201103300590