Smart governance
The Greater Des Moines Partnership promised it would shake things up with its Project Destiny committee recommendations. The business group hasn’t disappointed, especially with the proposals offered by its Public Finance Task Force to streamline local government to bolster economic development efforts.
Government has to get smarter, leaner and more efficient so it can perform its proper duties – delivering services to residents – and not become so paralyzed by its ponderous weight that it must employ service cuts and tax increases to merely remain standing.
Consolidating government wherever possible makes sense and most folks know that. They know that the more bureaucrats their tax dollars are supporting, the fewer services government will be able to offer. They know from their own experiences in lean economic times that the best way through them is to look for efficiencies in their household budgets while continuing to make the mortgage payment, pay for rising energy costs and put food on their table. Businesses know that lesson well, too. They know that to continue fulfilling their mission statements when the economy is sluggish, they have to make adjustments in their operations.
Government needs understand that, too.
The challenge for advocates of local government reform is overcoming inertia and apathy among the general public rather than leaving decisions, such as next fall’s vote on combining the Polk County and Des Moines city governments, up to people with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. It’s true some rural Polk County residents are apprehensive that they’ll face stiffer zoning regulations if the merger is approved, but the strongest opposition comes from bureaucrats battling over turf.
That’s one challenge, but the Project Destiny group is taking the debate to a higher level with an abundance of efficiency ideas. They range from merging the services offered by the 20 city governments in Greater Des Moines to looking for efficiencies in the administrative functions of 16 public school districts in the area; from asking for comprehensive land-use plans and uniform zoning and building standards to studying the feasibility of a multi-county regional government; from supporting tax-base sharing to end cannibalistic economic development policies among competing metro communities to asking for another half penny in sales tax to support cultural programs and reduce the tax differential among area cities.
It’s past time for average citizens, who primarily want assurance their garbage will be picked up on time and that the police and fire departments will protect them, to emerge from the shadows of obscurity and champion those suggestions. And if local government officials cry foul, it’s fair to ask whether they’re looking out for their own self-interests or what’s best for Greater Des Moines.