General Atomics to build a private recreation center

[SHRED]

With our tax dollars.
Why aren't people outraged by this fascist MIC shit?

This GA center is HUGE. Big bucks in drone spying and wasting Yemeni wedding party lives.

GA contributes very little to the local tax base as they do not produce a retail product. Just government paid for death products.

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• Approved plans submitted by General Atomics to build a private recreation center on 20 vacant acres it owns at 14130 Kirkham Way. The plans include two lighted softball fields, a lighted soccer field, gym, locker room and swimming pool. Council members praised the project as a good way to attract and retain the company’s 4,000-plus employees.

http://www.pomeradonews.com/2013/12/04/planning-for-new-poway-community-center-back-on-track/

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[cthulu2016]

1. What is so unusual about a large company building a rec center?

Whatever the problem is with a company that makes deadly weapons, I don't think, "They had a softball field," is it.

The company already owns a large vacant piece of land. They are putting a rec facility on it.

Why is that a problem?

[SHRED]

3. Local economies are struggling

And yet this tax dollar funded "private" company is living high off the hog.

I am against the MIC and always will be especially when our country needs to be rebuilt and there seems to no money for that yet plenty for this.

Privatized military and military services are dangerous and detrimental to our society and the world. War for profit is a terrible incentive and hard to contain as it grows out of control.

Get it?

[Logical]

5. Is this a private company? If yes then they can do what they want.....

The DU cracks me up. We love good employers! Sometimes!

[SHRED]

6. The DU has been consistently against the MIC...privatized military

Am I wrong on this?

[Boom Sound 416]

7. They are not tax funded

- They sell to the govt. that is not tax funded

- they do contribute to the local tax base if they have 4000 employees. Hundreds of businesses and the municipal support and get supported

- construction of a large rec-center won't be done by the wives and children of the employees I presume

The rec center acts as a recruitment tool, keeping existing employees and general life quality improvement for the families as well.

Chillax

[haele]

10. I understand GA = War Pig. Privatization of the military is a problem. Won't argue there. But...

I'll have to disagree with your outrage here.

In this instance, General Atomics:
1) already owns the land - they aren't stealing local or federal lands and
2) they are using funds from their ill-gotten profits they have made off the MIC (bad) to benefit their working employees who live on the local economy there (which is why the community council was happy - it provides incentive and a tax base that can support the area). Instead of funnelling the money out of the community and pushing it up the corporate food chain into the pockets of Saudi Princes, Hedge Fund managers, and the revolving Board Membership class or squirreling it away into the Caymens or Black-Ops projects.

And they are not taking government work or resources away from government workers while doing it. They are not using federal land to build on, and do not seem to be taking local tax and infrastructure advantages with this particular endeavor.

This work will provide jobs for people in the community who aren't engineers or code-jockeys (even if it is short-term), not particularly harm the local environment, require that GA make some moves to improve the local infrastructure to support the new facility, and help the local commuity economy by providing incentives for the large workforce to remain in the area - because they feel they have a better quality of life and the company "cares" for them - and perhaps recruit even more workers who will live and circulate money within the local community.

Bad they exist in the form they exist at that plant (I agree, I prefer General Atomics would be making profit in providing support and resources to the DoE, EPA, NASA, NOAA or SPACE-X rather than building drones for a police state), but they aren't hurting anything with this local project. It's probably one of the very few decent things they are doing.

Haele

[Logical]

2. I thought we liked companies that treat their employees well?? nt

[SHRED]

4. see my post #3

[Drew2510]

8. How is this "fascist" or "privatizing the military" I don't understand your comment. n/t

[hughee99]

9. Unbelievable! Can you even imagine a company spending money to do something

for their general employees? This money should have instead gone to executive bonuses! The people on the council must be on the take to think this is a good idea. Why would any town want to have a business in it that people WANT to work for? A business that many people in the community DO work for (directly or indirectly).

This company makes sells spy and "death from above" drones to the US government. That is your reason to be outraged (so long as you don't want to talk about WHO is buying them and what THEY are doing with them). Building sports and recreation facilities for the employees isn't going to get almost anyone worked up. As many have pointed out, isn't this one of the few types of behavior the DU generally SUPPORTS from corporations?

[CFLDem]

11. I wish my taxpayer funded company

would be generous enough to build a rec center.

I'm with everyone else- Where's the controversy?