Monday, July 28, 2008
County government offers ways to reorganize and save
There were two major news stories on The Vindicator’s front page July 14 that involved the high cost of local government.
One was the release of an independent study that showed the increasing expense in operating local government and school districts in the Mahoning Valley. As the population declined, government has continued to grow and the taxpayers have been forced to carry an increasing burden.
We addressed that study in an editorial yesterday. We’ve written editorials about the cost of government in the past, the news department has done countless stories and there will be more coverage and editorials in the future.
The second story that ran last Monday was one headlined, “Regional Chamber postpones government change measures.”
The Regional Chamber had been encouraging an effort to place separate charter issues on the ballot in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Both counties have attempted to enact charter-type government in the past and those attempts have fallen victim to heavy opposition from the political establishment. Not surprisingly, people in office tend to prefer the status quo. Many Ohio counties have also tried unsuccessfully to streamline their antiquated political systems. Only one of the state’s 88 counties has succeeded, Summit County.
A big job
Redefining how counties are governed and how various departments — commissioners, sheriff, prosecutor, clerk of courts, recorder, treasurer, auditor, engineer — operate is a massive undertaking.
Bottom line: Voters in Mahoning and Trumbull counties will not have the opportunity this November to vote on a home rule charter proposal.
The charter in each county would establish the position of county executive, who would be responsible for the day-to-day running of government, and the creation of a county legislature. Members would serve part-time and would represent all parts of the county.
The two home rule charter committees, formed by the chamber last October to lead the charge for the creation of the new governments, were also assigned the task of determining how many other countywide positions should be retained and whether they should be filled by election or appointment.
While strong arguments can be made for changing county government as we now know it, it won’t be until at least November 2009 that voters will be asked to decide.
That’s unfortunate, given the reality of the Valley’s economy and the fact that the region isn’t growing in population.
While county government is only one part of the ever increasing cost of government, it would have been as good a place as any to start to show that there are less expensive and more efficient ways to provide services than those that were established in the 19th and 20th centuries.