Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Given failed starting business goals, shaky leadership, bleak business prospects and analysts skeptical of its long-term business plans, local community advocates are pushing for a fresh start with the site of the Tesla Gigafactory in South Buffalo.
Advocates are calling on New York State to not renew a lease agreement with Tesla with the factory along South Park Avenue, and rather issue a new Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the property, providing a fair competition to see which company may be able to provide more high-quality jobs and other public benefits.
A proposed new agreement between the state and Tesla, outlined in a non-binding letter of intent, would extend Tesla’s lease from 2029 through 2034.
While increasing Tesla’s rent (previously $1 per-year), the proposal decreases job requirements, reduces the penalties for missing them, and fails to protect workers, local communities, and the natural environment.
Advocates strongly believe any new lease or subsidy with Tesla should include provisions like:
- Higher job targets;
- Family-supporting wages and benefits;
- Protection of workers from discrimination and harassment;
- Card-check neutrality (a requirement that an employer recognize a union if a majority of workers sign cards in favor);
- PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes) for local municipalities;
- Environmental protections regarding air, water, and soil quality, including a requirement that only renewable, non-nuclear energy be used to power the plant;
- Community benefit provisions providing job and career pathways for workers; vendor opportunities for local, minority and women-owned businesses; and other benefits to the surrounding communities;
- Increased penalties for violations, including failure to meet job targets.
In addition, advocates feel New York should begin a comprehensive audit to make sure Tesla has abided by the terms of the agreements and all applicable laws, and, if it finds violations, move promptly to enforce its rights.
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While some state lawmakers like Assemblyman Pat Burke back the call from advocates to look for another solution for the plant site in South Buffalo, mayoral candidate for the City of Buffalo, James Gardner (R) questions what alternatives are realistic that won't result in the loss of 3,000 jobs in the city.
"I don't think, given all the headwinds facing the City of Buffalo right now, we can do anything that would jeopardize good paying jobs that are within the city limits," said Gardner in an interview with WBEN. "I'm not a huge proponent of the idea of for every dollar that we've spent as taxpayers, we're only getting about .54 cents, from what I understand, return on that investment. It was a bad deal to begin with, but we are getting some return now. It's just half of the money that we put in, and I think we shouldn't be jeopardizing any employer in the city, and I think a lot of that is because of who this particular employer endorsed and worked for to become President of the United States."
Mayoral candidate Michael Gainer (I) has had plenty of concerns about the overall project conception from the very beginning, but he doesn't want to see this effort with the lease being politicized in the wrong light. He wants to focus squarely on where the city can grow and develop its economy, and how it can create the greatest number of jobs.
"My concern with this project was it's trying to brand or revive this concept of Buffalo as a manufacturing city. I think that really our focus needs to be on small and medium-sized job creation," Gainer said with WBEN. "I think about the employees and their families, and I have great concern just about some of the decisions that have been made over the last couple years, but it really comes down to the state holding Tesla to account for the commitments they've made. It doesn't matter if it's Tesla or if it's another company, we need to, as a state, hold our corporations and our businesses, and our business leaders to account, and have a high level of expectation and standard for what we do. And we're not doing our job as elected officials and as leaders of holding Tesla accountable for the agreements and the commitments that they made.
"Yes, they've fallen short. Yes, they have not met the terms of the agreement, and I have major issues with that. But we need to look at our level of accountability and what we're doing, because whether it's Tesla or whether it's another very large, probably billion dollar company, we have to hold them to a standard, and we have to do our job as elected officials to make sure that they're closing the deal."
Gainer knows the lifeblood of Buffalo is the small and medium-sized businesses and the jobs they provide for the community. As Mayor of Buffalo, he'd want to see the focus being on the investments and the conversation there.
"How do we attract more small businesses? How do we attract more entrepreneurs, more startups, to make business with a much lower overall tax investment, and to give back and have a greater return, a more substantive return, to our communities and to our business community, and to our downtown community? If you do the math, it's a substantial investment," Gainer said.
"I just want to see us focusing on the lower hanging fruit. How we can have less public investment of dollars and a greater outcome. That really is in supporting and rejuvenating, and elevating our local business leaders and entrepreneurs to create jobs, just like they have been the lifeblood of our economy for years."
While Gainer has heard the Tesla site can, perhaps, be subdivided for other smaller manufacturing companies, he questions whether any RFP will be effective, in terms of attracting a much larger business like a Tesla.
"We built that plant with a specific use in mind, and that's why I'm a little bit hesitant to just immediately shift away. I think we have to hold a high standard, I think we have to be diligent in the enforcement of our rules and our regulations, and hold any company that is in that plant to account and ensure that they're meeting the needs of our communities, they're meeting the health of our environment, and they're meeting the needs and the expectations of our workers," Gainer said. "Those are the things that I prioritize when I'm talking to employers, when I'm talking to business people, and I think that we should have that high expectation for anyone that does business in the City of Buffalo, and we need to start the conversation there."
As for Gardner, with taxpayers having already invested heavily in making that facility usable and usable for modern manufacturing, he also feels the trouble this process may run into is making it attractive for another bigger company to come in and use it.
"This how the Democrats have done economic development. They've shown no interest in making the entire state or our region more competitive, in terms of a business climate. They, instead, just invest huge amounts of government subsidies into particular businesses, cross their fingers and hope it works. And we know that it doesn't work well," Gardner said. "This is probably, for all of its shortcomings, a better outcome than even most predicted when this deal was struck, in the sense that there are still people working there. There's work that's ongoing, people are employed down there, they're making the superchargers. But if there's a clamoring for other employers or other businesses that want to take that site over at a more effective investment, are willing to invest in it and willing to do so without government subsidy, sure. I just don't think that's going to happen."
And while Gardner wants to see good corporate stewards and good neighbors, particularly among the business community, he doesn't see the concerns of corporate citizenship on a national or international stage coming to bear on how this one local factory operates.
As for Gainer, if the lease with Tesla is renewed, he strongly feels there has to be a very serious conversation about the community's concerns.
"And we should be giving a voice to the employees that are there without them having to fear retribution, without them having to fear for their jobs, to make sure we're meeting the needs of health, community and employee expectations to get the greatest outcome from our public investment of tax dollars," Gainer added.
WBEN reached out to Democratic candidate Sean Ryan and his office regarding this story, but he was not available for comment.