As the chairwoman of the Winston-Salem City Council's finance committee, Democrat Wanda Merschel of the Northwest Ward was in the thick of the deals for the Dell computer plant and the downtown baseball park. Peter Sorensen, a Republican and one of the many critics of those deals, hopes to win her seat on Nov. 3. But Merschel, who realizes that council's oversight could have been stronger in the early stages of both projects, is a hard-working, effective councilwoman who deserves a fourth term.
Sorensen is a 40-year-old underwriting account manager for WFDD, the local public radio station. His Lochurst neighborhood was annexed by the city, and he's an opponent of such forced annexation.
He questions the council's approval of millions of dollars in financial incentives for Dell's Winston-Salem plant, which will close in January, and backing for the ballpark, where construction recently resumed -- thanks to another cash infusion approved by the council in June. The ballpark should have been privately financed, he said, like the Greensboro one was. And if it is completed, the city should use it year-round, including as a venue for free public events.
Sorensen said that the city should have required tougher benchmarks and accountability on employment figures from Dell. There's no guarantee that the company will honor its agreement with the city and repay the incentives it's received, he said.
He sees incentives as a necessary evil that should be given to small- and mid-sized businesses riding the cutting edge of technology -- instead of plants making desktop computers. And if the state would overhaul its tax structure to make it more business-friendly, he said, the need for incentives would be eliminated.
Merschel, a 59-year-old executive with Piedmont Federal Savings Bank, sees taking on projects such as the ballpark and the Dell plant as essential to the city's economic success. She believes that the city will recoup the money it gave Dell, as well as the land, which, she said, Dell will continue to pay taxes on until "there's another user for it." The plant elevated the city's profile and brought in related businesses, she said.
On both Dell and the ballpark, she said, "not only could our oversight have been better in the early stages, but we could have also, and should in the future, look to retain outside experts to review such proposals, when they are so specific." But the company "was one of the most respected in the world" when the council recruited it, she said.
Incentives are an unavoidable tool for business recruitment, but should be used judiciously, she said.
Merschel said that the ballpark can be a success if the community supports it. It could even become a symbol of a dynamic community.
Since she became the head of the finance committee in 2001, Merschel said, the city has increased salaries for firefighters and police officers by 36 percent and retained the lowest tax rate of any major city in the state. And she's helped achieve infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes and repaved streets. As someone who learned public service in the West End Neighborhood Association, Merschel has helped others start neighborhood associations.
Sorensen is a strong candidate. We endorsed him in the Republican primary. But Merschel's leadership, experience and vision are needed on the council. The Journal endorses Wanda Merschel for another term as the council member for the Northwest Ward.
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