Readers React: Tesla Motors is no California charity case

To the editor: Only time will tell whether Tesla Motors will be successful — and whether the overly generous tax breaks and credits given it by Nevada to build a battery factory in the state were worthwhile. (“Tesla mines gold in Silver State,” Sept. 5)

The corporate graveyard is littered with companies — some receiving tax breaks or investment credits or government bond funding — that have failed or moved to other states or countries, or failed to return the expected economic benefit to the citizens whose money they gladly accepted.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is an entrepreneurial genius. He shouldn’t need tax dollars to be successful.

Daniel Fink, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: The announcement of the new Telsa battery factory in Nevada coincided with my visit to Reno. The local coverage noted the tax incentives on which you elaborated, but Telsa officials also mentioned the other three reasons for not picking California:

Nevada has no personal or corporate income tax, and California has an anti-business climate.

There is a parallel to this story: Earlier this year, Toyota Motor Corp. announced the relocation of its U.S. headquarters out of California to be closer to its manufacturing. But why wasn’t Toyota’s manufacturing kept in California? Probably the same set of reasons.

The irony of the story is that the Telsa plant in Fremont was once a Toyota facility before it pulled its manufacturing out of California.

John Hoven, Manhattan Beach

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To the editor: Sometimes, procrastination pays off.

I meant to write last week when I read that the Tesla battery factory went to Nevada. I was going to say something like this:

“Before we start crying into our beer over not winning the Tesla factory, let’s reconsider the value of adding a polluting industry to our state, waiving our environmental laws and paying $500 million to get 6,500 jobs.”

The revelation that Nevada is paying $1.3 billion for those jobs makes me think that we really dodged a bullet. California doesn’t have to impoverish its citizens or degrade the environment to attract business.

We should focus on upgrading our infrastructure, airports, seaports, highways and schools. Businesses want to locate in a healthy, attractive, fiscally sound state, the sort of state we all want to live in.

Marcia Goldstein, Laguna Woods

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To the editor: With Tesla’s Nevada deal, tax breaks for the movie industry and corporate goodies from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, we’ve reaffirmed the notion of capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich.

Isaac Hirschbein, La Mesa

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