Why are Hondas made in Ohio and Chevy Impalas made in Canada? So, if you buy a Honda, you are supporting American jobs, right?

Just a question,maybe it's been asked and answered already. If the City of Janesville antes up for some funds then will Rock County be next,then the City of Beloit,then the City of Madison,Dane County,City of Racine,City of Chicago...etc,etc. After all only approx 1400 GM employees lived in Janesville. The rest lived all over central and southern Wisconsin and central and northern Illinois. I understand the need for funding but why the city of Janesville. Non-GM employed Janesville residents have had to pay the higher prices for goods just because we purchased them in a GM town.I'll admit we have benefited some from GM tax base and taxes fom employees but so have many other communities.. Now that GM is leaving we non-GM employed Janesville residents have to bear the burden of the cost while every other community that has benefited ,watches.

easy an to the point,it all comes down to all you people that buys all the exported cars an trucks from other countries is why every one is losing the jobs.so the only one to blame is you an you alone.

I bought an '07 Honda and as soon as I drove it off of the lot, all 4 tires fell off! As I was heading back into the dealership to tell them what happened, it exploded! I'll never buy a Honda again. I replaced it with a new GM vehicle and haven't had a single problem with it. As a matter of fact, while I was putting my registration in the glove compartment, I found $500.00 in there! Thank you GM!!

You all do relize there are people leaveing Janesville for to work in other communites. Every time a company closes nothing seams to replace it.Be cause of The citys mismanagement An the fact the city council only cares at election time they dont do enoungh to bring jobs in an that is why we are faced with this situation.An GM is gonna leave no matter what we do.Rember this we spent 200 million to redo Jackson st for Gm to keep them here.Bad idea cause gm is still gonna leave by the way that road isnt paid for yet either gues wh is stuck with the bill.Think about that an see if it is really worth keeping gm around.

If GM were smart, they'd revive the electric car they killed several years ago and build it in Janesville. Maybe now that they are next to bankrupt they'll reassess that dumb decision.

See: http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

Jack Lohman
http://MoneyedPoliticians.net

I sure hope not one cent of my tax dollars go towards this. I think it is silly and a waste of my (and your) money. Why do we want to keep a company as blind as GM here? Time for them to move on and let a new business, with hopefully a little more brains, have a run at it. GM failed, move along.

I think the City Council should consider the fact that General Motors whether we like it or not, is leaving and that if any money is spent it should be spent on getting someone to occupy the factory or revitalize it.

I can understand that the Council would like to see GM stay here and so would the Union and Alliant Energy, so why not have the Union fork over the bucks to pay for this 'firm' that the committee wants to hire, so that their "members" can keep their jobs?

Let's get on the right track and see what GM plans to do with this building and land and see that this committee get someone to take it over without wasting money.

I owned a 07 Silverado, within the first week, the tail light fell out, and over the next few months, the same interior trim piece broke, three times, and when I traded it in(on a Honda)a speaker was blown, all this in less than a year.

Oh, and forgot to mention, BD, that my GM vehicle needs a $500 repair job for leaking seals that I'm told by the dealership are common and shouldn't be happening on a 3-year-old vehicle with 23,000 miles.

BD-I currently own a 2005 GM vehicle. And one of the reasons I bought another GM vehicle is to not only support our local economy, but to spend my hard-earned money on American-made products.

GM is gone people, money would be better spent finding new ventures to fill the space and putting GM in our past. My family bought a GM built SUV this last week, our last hurrah to the era that has been the bread and butter for this city. P.S. it gets better gas mileage than my V8 car did!!!!

jstwndrn -

How can you say quality has plummeted for GM vehicles over the past few years? Have you bought a GM car since the the 1970's & 1980's? I must say (and so does the Harbour Report & all other auto rag magazines) that GM quality has substantially risen, even more so than the darlings Toyota, Honda & Nissan.

BD

First off GM isn’t gone yet. The locks aren’t on the door, there is no for sale sign in the front of the building. In addition, last I checked they are still producing product there. There seems to be this rush to move past GM, but nobody knows what for. Granted, the situation looks grim (from the GM perspective) and the odds are stacked against us retaining GM. I think most Janesville residents recognize this fact regardless of their affiliation with GM. However, the alternatives people mention don’t yet exist. In addition, it could be many years before alternatives to GM become available. Granted, there are ideas floating around, but nothing more. The people who make up the team to retain GM consist of three people, one of which is a hired outside consultant. As a result, I don’t think we’re using up all of our best and brightest people solely in the effort to retain GM and otehr avenues can be pursued. Although I agree we must look at alternatives, I also think every effort to keep GM in Janesville should be exhausted in parallel to searching for those alternatives. Auto industry sales are down for nearly all auto makers including Toyota. In addition, as we all know, the overall economy is bad. This isn’t the best time to look for new manufacturers to occupy the 4,097,100 square foot GM building. Although I’m optimistic that Janesville will be ok without GM long term, I’m not optimistic about how long term that will be. It is quite possible we haven’t seen the bottom yet or that the alternatives to GM will be as economically viable as many assume. GM will be building more small cars in the coming years and we have the workforce, capacity, and location. There may be a few nails in the coffin, but it’s not nailed shut yet.

[Doug Venable, city director of economic development, has asked that the council adopt a motion authorizing the city manager to SPEND MONEY to support the effort. The AMOUNT of money is NOT SPECIFIED.] Comments and directions such as this from our City Officials is totally irresponsible. We wonder why we need to keep increasing the taxes in Janesville! I suppose for Mr. Venable the "skies" the limit.

I’m not a GM hater. I’ve never had anything against GM or the Janesville plant. I’ve never said anything against GM or its workers. In a perfect world, GM would still be #1, and the plant would be open and retooling to crank out the latest in fuel-efficient cars. But the world is not perfect, and sometimes reality is hard to take. But hiding from reality never makes it any better. The reality here is, GM is gone. You don’t like it, I don’t like it, and a cast of thousands doesn’t like it, but we can’t change it. You can look back, wish for the good old days, and throw money into a pit, and you’ll not be fixing anything. You’ll be doing CPR on a 3-day old corpse, and it’s not going to help. Or -- you can look forward, cut your losses, and figure out how to avoid becoming the next Flint MI. Good jobs aren’t just going to fall out of the sky, *somebody* is going to have to do a lot of legwork to find good employers, and entice them in to setting up shop in Janesville. But if all the *somebodies* are distracted with putting their energies into trying to get GM to reconsider, then that legwork isn’t going to get done, and the jobs won’t be coming.
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Like it or don’t, we’re all in the same lifeboat here. Unless you’re a renter, in which case you can give your notice and drive out of town looking for a new job. Otherwise, we have all have houses that we can’t sell, so we’re here for the duration. Whatever benefits the Janesville economy benefits us all, whatever hurts that economy is one more nail in our collective coffins. It’s best to keep that perspective in mind when trying to figure out the “where from here” scenario.

I won't argue the fact that GM has burned WI or Janesville for that matter. However, this still doesn't negate the fact that GM is important to the community and that there are thousands who hold out some hope, be it fleeting.

I don't hate GM or anyone that ever worked there. If I did, I wouldn't have supported them with my business all these years. I just don't like having my trust and support abused.

Yawn…. Yet one more topic for the GM haters to blather endlessly about. I’m going to dumb this one down a bit so they understand. I suppose haters must think instead the city should just poop out a few thousand replacements for these high paying jobs being lost at GM, Lear, LSI and other various related facilities. In addition, they think companies are lining up to buy the GM plant and hire the thousands of affected workers from GM and suppliers and pay a reasonable wage and we’ll all live happily ever after(laughing). They must also think it’s a much wiser investment of city money to concentrate on skate parks and bike tunnels rather than make an attempt to retain GM, because the haters have jobs. On the other hand, there is always the alternative, which is over the next few decades we slowly add nickel and dime employers paying ten bucks an hour to absorb the unemployed and watch the standard of living in Janesville further erode. Housing prices don’t matter, let them fall, I’m not selling anyway, say the haters. Yeah, let us not waste our money trying to retain GM, because who needs them, say the haters. I’m fine, so who cares about anyone else, say the haters without actually saying it.
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I think all the years that this city rode the back of GM and its workers tax base that any money spent on behalf of all those who are now laid off is money well spent and the least that can be done. So unless one of the haters has mortgage paying jobs lined up for several thousand people, maybe they should put a cork in it. That comment otta fire sum haters up!

I agree that it's time to invest in the future and let go of the past. Unfortunately, GM has spent the last couple of decades digging their own grave and now they want help getting out of the hole? I have bought GM automobiles all my life and have watched prices soar and quality plummet. What guarantee is there they will stick around after getting even more money from state, city or wherever else they can?

biggirl
Seriously.. it's a biggest part of the problem due to the fact that the majority of the public can't afford to drive the vehicles we now have.. let alone being able to afford to buy a new one.

I agree that we should know how much this is going to cost.

Unfortunately for the current GM workers, I would rather see money spent on attracting other businesses. GM is in horrible financial shape, and doesn't need the capacity. Even though they are increasing car capacity, overall capacity is still down. Why would they use the Janesville plant to even supply engines or other parts, far away from their auto assembly plants?

biggirl,
Sorry, but you're statement about equal wages is wrong. The wage gap won't get reduced for another year or two.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f37/g...
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/con...

What will happen when the UAW has failed? They already have. While Unions have had there place, they are now a dinosaur that shares blame for this current mess. The right-to-work states will continue to get the new manufacturing jobs, while states like Wisconsin will continue to suffer.

If GM was sitting on the fence, putting out feelers to see where they would get the best deal, then sure, invest in keeping them here. But they are gone. Finished. Ain’t a comin’ back no mo, no mo. They have no interest in staying, no matter what incentives they’re offered. They *can’t* stay. Their business is crumbling, they’re in panic mode, and they are scrambling just to stay alive. And it’s far from a sure thing that GM will be in business five years from now. It would be criminally irresponsible to invest one penny of our tax dollars in such a useless effort.
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If the city has found a pot of gold somewhere, then invest it in attracting new businesses. Do some research, see what industries use workers with skills and training similar to our GM workforce, and start wheeling & dealing. Get with the governor, if you can catch him between his overseas boondoggles, and get him to promise some incentives. Give a new business three years tax-free, and another three years at half-tax, and you’ll generate some interest.
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But don’t waste money trying to keep GM here. Because as far as they’re concerned, it’s a dead issue.

Waste of money. Invest in the FUTURE, don't cling to the past.

Just remember this. ATK -- Alliant Techsystems former Accudyne announced it was closing and the State of Wisconsin gave them some concessions to stay. What was it? three years later and they were closing operations here and moving to W. Virginia. ATK was also UAW 95 and we sure didn't get the same benefits being provided for the GM employees. Many of us left there had 25+ years of service when they closed the doors.

Sorry that so many people like to blame the unions for this one. Honda, Toyata, and Nissan employ workers at the same pay level as the UAW has fought for. What's going to happen when the UAW falls? Those salaries are going to plummet, and we're all going to be unable to afford the vehicles we drive. Remember that Henry Ford believed that you must pay the workers a decent salary so that they can afford your vehicles. It is this philosophy, which fuels are capitalism. We're all going down if we allow the rapacious executives to continue this race toward the bottom.

I'd feel a lot more comfortable discussing this if I knew:

1. What amount of money are we talking about here?
2. Will GM absolutely have to stay here in Janesville, and if so, will they be providing decent wages to a large employee base?
and
3. Has the city of Janesville (Venable) considered exactly how much he's willing to have the city invest in this venture? For instance, if the city does come up with the funds to bail out GM, what happens when the company needs more help? How long will Janesville be willing (and able) to appease the GM corporation in the hopes that they will remain in Janesville, or should we cut our losses and move on?

just an FYI - the state is still helping us ex Beloit Corp employees who were promised severence pay and have not received it yet. Also Wisconsin has the stiffist laws when it comes to unfair labor practices

Unfortunately, the time to save Janesville's plant was long ago. Please don't spend any further money or time trying to get GM to change its mind on the closing. Put both toward efforts to lure new jobs to the area.

Without an upturn in the general economy, I don't think GM will consider staying. They already have plants that build the fuel effecient vehicles. Why would they retool their oldest plant when they have modern facilities producing those cars and engines that are selling for them? They won't. Old plant+ expensive workforce= bye bye.

I don't blame people for trying, but the writing is on the wall and has been for some time. There is a reason why the Honda's, Toyota's, and Nissan's of the world don't want build plants in areas like ours...unions.

Man, I wish I worked at GM. Everyone is paying for their jobs. First the State of Wisconsin(meaning taxpayers) and now the City of Janesville might as well. I have a better idea. Let's do a special "tax" on each of the autoworkers or take some money out fo their union dues to pay for the efforts to save their jobs. They need to pay into this. I wish the State or City would help pay for others who lose their jobs. And I mean above and beyond unemployment.

Wow our city must have a ton of cash. Cause during these hard times COJ keeps spending that there is no end

I don't even want to think about how much the cleanup would end up costing us!

I heard that there is talk about Gm selling the building to Hendricks Co. GM would then lease the building from them. It doesn't sound like a long term set-up to me. If GM was still going to have a product here, why would they be trying to sell the place except to unload the eviromental nightmare. I bet that place will never have an eviromental clean-up.

>>>> It won't be a lot of money in any case.<<<

Oh?

Just to be clear, kiowamohican, this is lobbying money, not any kind of support of GM. Given the broad group behind this effort I think it makes sense to have support from the City itself. It won't be a lot of money in any case.

Right on Devil.
I love how it's always the tax payer to come to the rescue of failed business.

I don't think tax payers money should be involved in this loosing battle. GM, their stock at single digits, a high monthly cash burn rate, loosing literately billions and cutting more production, can be expected to keep open, the oldest plant they have. It just doesn't make much sense from GM's perspective. It's been a nice partnership with GM but unfortunately it's over. Local folks got to wake up and smell the coffee.