Tomer vs Target?

The Danville Register & Bee has an interesting article today about a proposed Target store that the city of Danville wants to partially finance to get it. City Council member and dem candidate for the 14th HOD district Adam Tomer was the major opposition to the plan.

I bring this up b/c this could become an issue in the race in the 14th, if for no other reason it will raise the name ID of Tomer. Whether that ID is good or bad remains to be seen.

The basic background is that the city of Danville wants to give Target an incentive package of around $8 million to get Target to open a store in their city. The majority of the council voted in favor of this measure, but Tomer and 2 others opposed the plan. Tomer argues they should only give financial incentives for industrial employers and not commercial/retail establishments.

This could be good for him in the local business community, b/c I suspect many local business owners would be hurt by a Target store. He may be able to garner some support this way.

The flip side is he could lose support as people want the increased employment and tax benefits this plan could bring. I obviously do not know the details so I will not speculate on how good the plan is; but I have a feeling some believe it is a good thing (and in politics, perception and reality might as well be the same thing). If people in Danville feel Tomer has tried to block an economic development effort; he could be in deep trouble.

Just for info's sake, currently the web poll on the paper's website shows 47 votes against the plan and 43 in favor.

This is just one issue that could create an interesting dynamic in an already interesting HOD race for 2007.