For years, we’ve been told this is the deal: give the biggest corporation in the room a break, and the rest of us will come out ahead.

But at some point, “incentive” turns into “subsidy,” and “partnership” starts to feel like permission. Permission to take more than you give, to grow faster than a community can support, and to call it success as long as the buildings look ‘beautficationed’ from the highway.

The Dalles deserves better than being a bargain-priced host. We’re not anti-business. We’re pro-fairness. Pay what you owe, tell the truth about what you use, and invest in the schools and systems that keep this town alive.

Avangrid’s planned wind energy project in Gilliam County promises to bring 150 construction jobs — most filled by Oregon union labor — and generate millions in local tax revenue, but the company will also use the same controversial tax break that Google leveraged in The Dalles to sharply reduce its property taxes.