Mark Swanger Quotations

Retaining existing business is just as important as recruiting new business.

I have asked (Killian) to attempt to resolve the apparent conflict in legal opinions at the Institute of Government. And if the disagreement cannot be resolved, if he could give us the basis of their legal conclusions so we could try to sort it out.

We've raised the bar. I think people can watch us on television and not be embarrassed by the way their officials do business. Anyone who saw the board of commissioners five years ago and now wouldn't think they were in the same county.

I want to see the openness of county government become institutionalized. If it is institutionalized, it is very difficult to take backwards steps. Open government extends beyond the concept of letting the public know what is going on. It will result in better decisions.

Before we were losing jobs. I think it is fair to say many of the steps we took created a more favorable business climate. I am not saying the problem is solved but we are a long way down the road from where we were three years ago.

Garbage in, garbage out. If you have a dysfunctional process then good decisions occur only by accident. A functional, open and honest process will lead to many good decisions. You go about it in a methodical way. You are soliciting input instead of rushing or pushing something through.

The justice center in and of itself was not the problem. It was a symptom of the problem, which is bad government.

The incubator has been a failure and been mismanaged. I don't think anyone looking at it objectively can come to any other conclusion.