Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Latest BRAC News

Just to set the record straight this is the last place anyone should be looking for definative word on the BRAC realignment and its effect on the City of Ridgecrest. I am not in the loop, the know, or the inside for BRAC information. All I really know is what I hear on the radio, read in the newspaper or hear in the hallway.

Many folks in our fair city have been almost giddy with excitement since the BRAC report was finalized and we were told that there would be about 2500 new jobs moved here. The real estate market has boomed and the city council has been feverishly plotting, planning and preparing for up to 10,000 new residents.

This is not the first BRAC realignment that we have been through and anyone who hasn't forgotten their history should remember that the President signing the Base Realignment And Closure into law doesn't end the politics. Just because the BRAC says we should get 2500 jobs does not mean the we will get them.

At lunchtime today I heard on the radio that 2100 of the jobs most folks were expecting will come from Pt. Mugu. Now apparently that number has been reduced to around 400. Some folks think that number may reduce even further.

Personally I think that when the dust clears 5 to 6 years from now we will be lucky not to have lost jobs. I don't have any reason for this other than when it comes to political manuevering between China Lake and Pt Mugu, China Lake almost always comes out on the lossing end of the deal.

So if you are one of the salivating throng waiting for all the new residents to show up. don't hold your breath until the moving van pulls into the driveway next door and you feel obligated to go help unload their sofa bed.

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