The candidates for Summit County Council, countywide posts and the Ohio House who have visited our offices in recent weeks are in strong agreement: They are all for something called regionalism.
Oh, there have been a few disagreements, the most serious over the direction of Summit County’s charter form of government. The question, as it has been since the charter was adopted in 1979, is how best to consolidate the administrative functions still widely scattered over a bunch of local officials directly elected by the people.
This dispersed power is an invitation to opacity, which breeds corruption, and duplication of effort, as has been amply demonstrated by recent events in Cuyahoga County. There, voters in 2009 adopted sweeping reforms, consolidating all administrative offices (except prosecutor) under Executive Ed FitzGerald. He is held accountable by the County Council.
In Summit County, sadly, there are still some who wonder whether further consolidation is worth it.
On the broader point of regional cooperation among units of local government, there does not appear to be a bit of doubt. Yes, the candidates say, regionalism is the way to go, governments banding together to share services, driving down overhead while increasing service levels.
Except no one has a plan to make it happen.
The hope is, tight budgets will drive officials into each other’s arms, with service agreements, even outright mergers, just around the corner. That hope is shared, too, by the Kasich administration, which helped balance the state budget by slashing local government funds.
Yet the pace of change is slow, held back by the unwillingness of local officials to share power and the reaction of employees who fear their jobs are on the line.
This week, for example, Copley and Norton, which have operated a joint dispatching center since 2009, said they are working to bring Barberton into the fold.
That’s progress. Still, six communities (including New Franklin, Bath Township and Richfield) originally considered joining the expanded dispatching operation.
In the first year, Copley and Norton were able to cut their $41,200 operating costs in half, with no reductions in personnel. Adding more communities would cut costs even further, although officials say that after adding Barberton and its personnel, the combined dispatching center would be large enough to handle more communities without additional dispatchers.
Many in local government proudly point to joint dispatching operations, mutual aid agreements among safety forces and shared purchasing agreements for supplies and equipment. They are fine, as far as they go, which isn’t very far. The big savings are to be found in larger-scale consolidations, for example, merging entire police and fire departments instead of their dispatching centers.
What’s needed is to find more ways to help the region’s many units of local government (and that includes school districts) overcome inertia and start the serious work of combining operations.
The state has made just $45 million available through Local Government Innovation Fund grants (Copley, Norton and Barberton are applying) to plan and implement more efficient and effective government. This is after cutting local government funds by 33 percent in the state budget. Clearly, more must be done.
Other incentives could be provided by restoring the local government fund, but distributing the money based on efficiency evaluations. That would create a strong incentive to break loose from old ways, local trustees and village council members able to tell voters how their smart thinking attracted state money.
Beyond state involvement, Cuyahoga County’s FitzGerald boldly showed a way forward in his recent State of the County speech. What he has in mind is moving toward a regional government in which Cuyahoga County provides municipal services on a contract basis.
Local cities would retain local control, but costs would be reduced and better coordination achieved.
FitzGerald rightly pointed to “a patchwork of individual kingdoms” that are “powerless to execute any kind of coordinated strategy to compete in a global economy.” Are they listening in New Franklin, Bath and Richfield? Anywhere else?
Hoffman is a Beacon Journal editorial writer. He can be reached at 330-996-3740 or emailed at slhoffman@thebeaconjournal.com.
