For cities, consolidation may be a cost-cutting solution

Any organization, in order to survive, must continuously focus on its cost centers and its revenue streams. Through that lens, it is time to look government redundancy straight in the eye. As one example, in my county there are 39 cities with 39 separate police departments. In addition to law enforcement, there are separate municipal courts, competing jails, multiple 911 call centers, and multiple taxing districts for fire and emergency medical response services.

That implies that there are layers of separate management, administrative and bureaucratic infrastructures to “support” all of those agencies and their facilities and resources, including employees. But the problem is the underlying machine — not the people we put in the positions.

It is time to force the practice of government consolidation into the political arena and into local action. It is not complex; it is not overwhelming; and it does not mean that we have to sacrifice local jobs, identity or control.

Read the entire story from American City and County, our sister publication.