Mayoral Candidate Says Boston Should Offer A Smile For Amazon HQ2

Incumbent Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and his challenger, Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson, squared off Wednesday in the first of two mayoral debates scheduled for the 2017 Boston mayoral election, and the bid package for Amazon HQ2 was a contested issue. 

“We should allow Amazon to come here,” Jackson said in the debate. “You get nothing but a smile, a pat on the back, because you are a for-profit company, and we should invest our dollars in small businesses, locally owned businesses and communities.”

Jackson voiced his opposition to financial incentives in winning the bidding race for the company’s potential $5B headquarters that is expected to employ as many as 50,000. Walsh did not give a direct response on what the city was willing to provide Amazon, the Boston Business Journal reports. 

Walsh’s opponent has been equally as vocal against the city and state’s $150M incentive package to lure General Electric away from Fairfield, Connecticut, but much of the money is tied to infrastructure improvements. Of the city’s $25M in property tax abatements to GE, Walsh said the city more than made up with the company’s philanthropic gestures like a $25M donation to Boston Public Schools, $15M to community health programs and $10M to diversity training programs in underserved communities. 

Although Boston is seen as a leading contender for HQ2, analysts have cautioned all cities in the bidding process to carefully consider enormous financial incentive packages and associated costs in winning over Amazon. San Antonio’s mayor announced Wednesday his city was bowing out of the bidding process since his city would not be a leading contender due to real estate and incentive constraints.