Commissioners should reject this request. Alston's right. Residents need more jobs. But they also need jobs that pay a good wage.

If these proposed jobs don't pay at or above the average annual wage in Guilford County (about $39,000), then Commissioners should not approve the incentives.

Incentives are necessarily even in today's increasingly competitive economy. But approving them for jobs that pay far below the average annual wage will only invite a race to the bottom: how low can companies go before the Commissioners say enough?

Commissioners have a responsibility to bring more jobs to the area. But that doesn't override their duty to improve the lives of residents here. And these low paying jobs won't.