An article in the March issue of Governing Magazine takes the time to explain why consolidation is not always the answer for creating better government. Issues of efficiency both in terms of cost savings as well as resposiveness to citizens should be considered. Link: http://www.governing.com/articles/0903manage.htm
A recent article in the Tribune-Review highlights concerns that area legislators have regarding the massive debt that the City of Pittsburgh would bring to a merger with Allegheny County. Local elected leaders Ravenstahl and Onorato have made it their repsonsibility to convince the legislators to support their cause:
“We don’t see it as dead at all,” Ravenstahl said Friday. “The reality is, no matter what the county executive and I say, we are waiting for Harrisburg to give us the right to do that. It’s kind of an inside-baseball, elected official-to-elected official thing.”
Ravenstahl’s words allude to the lack of public input regarding this effort and the lack or regard for it. Public discourse on the subject has been largely unsupportive, which may be the motivation behind this.
Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development announced that Pittsburgh will remain in Act 47 fiscal oversight. DCED will continue to work with the City on an improved plan that will not project budget gaps.
This news has implications for the proposal to consolidate Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh. If the two jurisdictions consolidate while Pittsburgh is in Act 47, it is possible that the County will have to take on that responsibility, oversight, and designation.
A recent conference in Youngstown, Ohio, brought together planning and development professionals from each of three cities, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Youngstown, to discuss common challenges and opportunities for regional collaboration. The keynote speaker, John Austin, formerly of the Great Lakes Economic Initiative at the Brookings Institution, provided a look at the Great Lakes Region’s economy and how economic development can come from regional coordination.
Group talks of boosting Great Lakes economy
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Vindicator
Youngstown, Ohio
You may have not read the recent story in the Post-Gazette about a man in Elizabeth Township who has proposed to decrease the number of township commissioners from 7 to 5 and move them from elected by ward to elected at large. You may not have read this story because you think that it has no relevance to you. You may be wrong.
Elizabeth Township, located south of McKeesport on the Youghiogheny River, had a population of 13,839 in 2000 (at the time of the last census). That makes Elizabeth Township smaller than some City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods (i.e. Squirrel Hill, Brookline and Shadyside).
Yet, in the current proposal for city-county consolidation, Elizabeth Township doesn’t have to change at all. It will keep on with its commissioners and its independent citizenry while the City of Pittsburgh, with 334,563 people, will be eliminated and rolled into the county.
Currently, Elizabeth has one commissioner for every 1,977 citizens. That’s a whole lot of government. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has one Council Member for every 37,174 people. If the goal of reform is efficiency, as it is stated in arguments for city-county consolidation, which municipality discussed here is more efficient and which one should be considered for consolidation?
Is there any reason to merge the city and county?
By Adam Fleming
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl left the ballroom and entered a crowd of cameras and reporters after testifying at a May 28 hearing convened by a panel of state representatives visiting from Harrisburg. Inside the hearing, seated next to county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, he had coolly presented his case for a massive overhaul of local government — turning the 250-year-old city of Pittsburgh into an “urban services district” within a merged city/county government.
“One inevitable conclusion that we must reach together as a community is that we can no longer afford the status quo,” Ravenstahl told the legislators. “We must change if we are to grow again.” Read More …
Powered by WordPress | Blue Weed by Blog Oh! Blog | Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).