Dec 3, 2017 3 min read

If the much-ballyhooed second headquarters for Amazon does land in the Pittsburgh region, a heck of a lot of boats would be lifted by its tide.

Projections are that it would bring 50,000 good-paying jobs and $5 billion in investment. Even if it’s not within the immediate vicinity of Washington County, it would have an impact. And it’s not at all outlandish that what’s been dubbed Amazon HQ2 could end up in Pittsburgh or its immediate environs – Marcia Layton Turner, a columnist for Forbes magazine, forecast it was one of the five North American cities most likely to win the prize because of its quality of life, relatively low cost of living and the ready supply of skilled graduates emerging from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

We’ll find out in 2018. In the meantime, both Allegheny County and Pittsburgh have refused to divulge details of their proposals to the online colossus, unlike other cities that have put their cards on the table. The proposal almost certainly contains pricey incentives to lure Amazon to the region. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Tribune-Review and other news organizations have filed Right-to-Know requests wanting to find out what was contained in the 2-inch-thick proposal that was sent to Amazon bigwigs in Seattle in October. However, both the city and county have declined to reveal what inducements they are offering, even though the deadline for submissions was weeks ago and Amazon is now weighing its options.

Last week, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny Conference on Community Development CEO Stefani Pashman released a joint statement saying they did not want to “show our playbook.” They went on to say, “We routinely meet with companies looking to invest in this region. Such meetings often include detailed discussions about economic growth and jobs, and proposals – if appropriate – are specifically tailored to what the economic impact of such a location would be to our region. Those companies expect a candidness in the conversations that they have, and that those discussions will be kept private. Without that expected discretion, many would not even consider this region.”

But the simple fact is that neither Allegheny County nor Pittsburgh are privately held entities that can claim that what they do day to day is proprietary. How they handle their responsibilities is the business of the taxpayers who pay their salaries. Indeed, the success or failure of Pittsburgh’s Amazon HQ2 bid would have ramifications for residents of Washington, Greene, Beaver and Westmoreland counties, as well as other communities that surround Pittsburgh. In fact, it seems more likely than not that the proposal contains incentives from the state, so taxpayers in Washington or Greene counties would be helping to pay for this bait, whether a second Amazon headquarters ends up in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or, for that matter, Harrisburg or the region around Allentown, both of which have submitted longshot bids.

We’ve always believed that government agencies should err on the side of transparency, on matters large or small. The bid for Amazon’s second headquarters should certainly be no exception.