Griffin Forum discusses ideas for changes to Michigan government

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Larry Merrill said he knows the private sector does not have magic powers that make it superior to the public sector.

But he likes the idea of privatization to save taxpayer dollars.

The executive director of the Michigan Townships Association was joined by three other panelists at the Griffin Policy Forum, “Changing Michigan’s Mitten: How many cities, townships and school districts do we need?” Wednesday in Moore Hall’s Townsend Kiva.

The panelists, moderated by John Lindstrom, publisher of Gongwer News Services, discussed the viability of eliminating some local governmental units to help alleviate Michigan’s budget crunch.

Lindstrom said Michigan has nearly 1,200 townships, more than 500 cities and villages, and more than 500 school districts.

Merrill said though he thinks privatization is an alternative governmental units ought to consider, it is not always the best choice.

“The objective of local government is not to be as cheap as possible,” he said. “It’s how to be responsive to Michigan’s needs.”

Panelist Maxine Berman, Griffin Endowed Chair and Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s director of special projects, said impoverished state employees are not the answer, but neither is cumbersome levels of government.

“The problem isn’t the government entities so much, it’s the duplication (of services),” Berman said.

Panelist Arnold Weinfeld, director of strategic initiatives and federal affairs for the Michigan Municipal League, agreed with Merrill that privatization is “on the table.”

“People and local leadership have to want to be able to do this,” he said.

Merrill said the political culture in Michigan has changed and the public is more receptive to the idea of consolidating government than they were five years ago.

He said talking about eliminating government back in the day was “a ticket out of office.”

“Today, citizens get the financial situation their communities are in (but) it’s still hard,” he said. “That’s just the new reality.”

Collaboration

Berman said urban service boundaries would be a “collaborative fix” to save costs for local governments and might be an option citizens could consider.

She said a USB is an agreement between municipalities that the infrastructure of a community, such as police, fire and medical services, are in one place.

The surrounding areas pay for the services instead of constructing their own facilities, which should save costs.

Panelist Jan Amsterburg, superintendent of the Gratiot-Isabella RESD, said schools in his area followed a similar principle to save costs.

He said nine area school districts in Gratiot and Isabella counties now all share the same payroll office and transportation services.

Weinfeld said municipalities have been consolidating services for a while now and advances in technology could help the process.

He said having software could help municipalities determine where to concentrate law enforcement and where infrastructure needs the most attention due to high levels of traffic, for example.

“If the basis of the discussion right now is we need to find ways to save money, we need to set the stage to do so,” Weinfeld said.

In addition to investing in technology, Weinfeld said statutory regulations need to be implemented to make it easier for governments to consolidate.

He said Grand Rapids and surroundings communities have been trying for years to consolidate government services but regulation has inhibited the initiative.

“The laws are such in this state that (Grand Rapids) can’t do that,” he said.

Despite the bureaucratic red tape, Weinfeld said consolidation is happening.

“There’s a lot more collaboration going on than people think,” he said.