Danville’s got much to be proud of

Mayor Sherman Saunders’ “State of the City” address was a glass-half-full recitation of what’s gone right in Danville over the past year.

“I am here this morning to declare that we are moving in the right direction; that we are making real progress; and that we have a great team,” Saunders said at the Chamber of Commerce Business at Breakfast meeting last week.

The mayor’s enthusiasm is real, and for a number of reasons, it is well founded. During his tenure on Danville City Council, Saunders and others have worked hard to position Danville for a much brighter future.

The new companies that were recruited here between 2004-08 have set up shop but opened with far fewer employees than they eventually expect to hire. When the national economy improves, those new companies will start to grow here in Danville. The local turnaround will surprise a lot of people.

That said, it’s too bad the mayor said, “all is well in the City of Danville” when it clearly is not.

Saunders is a lot smarter about what’s happening in Danville. He knows the city’s image won’t improve until the local economy — expressed through the unemployment rate — finally improves.

While the mayor is right to crow about the city’s financial health, a big part of Danville’s fiscal stability comes from the profits from its captive utility customers — especially electric customers who don’t live inside the city’s borders. A future change in the regulatory environment or the widespread installation and use of more energy efficient technologies could threaten the city’s balance sheet.

Because Danville runs its own utilities, it’s appalling that the city has never come up with an effective plan for utility rate relief for its elderly poor and disabled citizens. It’s hard to reconcile that ongoing indifference with a city trying to project itself as a modern, forward-looking municipality.

Despite that, Danville does have a lot to be proud of. The work to rebuild the economy started before the loss of tobacco and textile jobs, and the city is well positioned for an economic recovery. All may not be well, but thanks to Saunders and others, it’s a lot better than it was — and it’s certainly much better than it would have been if the city had stayed on the same well-worn, dead-end path.