Seattle Green Jobs for $1.4 million per Job

 

Seattle was given a $20 million federal grant for energy efficiency projects with the intention of spurring job growth in the area and promoting "green jobs."  Well, over a year ago Seattle's Mayor Mike McGinn said to the people this would bring 2,000 weatherization jobs to Seattle and over 2,000 homes would be weatherized.  Half of the funds are reserved for financing and Mayor McGinn expected to "create" jobs at $10,000 a piece.  

At this point, 14 jobs have been the result of a $20 million grant and 3 homes have been weatherized.  The current rate is $1,428,571.42 per job created.  Currently while 337 homeowners have applied for financing only 14 have got a loan.  Locals question the fact that the Washington Athletic Club and a handful of area hospitals have received financing and commercial applications may not be what was expected of the project by the citizenry.  While the program is young it is an example of how poor planning and oversight can stifle good intentions.    

 At this rate we could create 10,000 jobs in Seattle for $14 billion, over 3.5 times the size of Seattle's annual budget.  This would provide work for around 1.5% of Seattle's population.