More on Klleen Economic Development Corporation (part 1)

The KEDC web site leaves some things to be desired -- there's no search capability or site map, for instance -- but it does have quite a bit of information.  I'll be blogging about that information as I digest it.

One thing that caught my immediate attention was on the "about" page:

KEDC is funded wholly by the City of Killeen. 

But

The KEDC is run by a nine-member Board of Directors who serves three-year staggered terms. Three board members each are chosen by the City of Killeen, the Killeen Industrial Foundation and the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce.

I'm from the business world, and I don't know what the conventions are in pseudo-governmental corporations, but I would expect 100% of the funding to buy more than 33% of the representation on the Board of Directors.  But set that aside: perhaps the City Council had good reason for agreeing to this when the KEDC authorization ordinance was passed in 1990.

What is KEDC authorized to do with the $700,000 or so it receives annually from the Killeen City government?  The mandate is pretty broad:

The ordinance permits KEDC to commit and spend funds received from the city, without the necessity of securing prior approval of the City Council, providing that the expenditures contribute to the creation of new jobs or retention of existing jobs in the City of Killeen and contribute to the public welfare.

Given that the City Council routinely reviews and considers unbudgeted expenditures of just a few thousand dollars from the General Fund, this represents great trust in KEDC by the Council.

But none of this casts much light on my main question about KEDC:  "How can we tell whether we're getting our money's worth?"  Next time wel'll look at "representative accomplishment" of the corporation.