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Posted by: John_Hamilton on 06/29/2011 08:22 AM
Updated by: John_Hamilton on 06/29/2011 08:22 AM
Expires: 01/01/2016 12:00 AM
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Calaveras County Taxpayers Association Letter to the Editor ~By Al Segalla
Dear Editor,
This is in response to the Guest Opinion and news article regarding Supervisor Steve Wilensky’s proposal on reorganization of Calaveras county government.
Steve is right, in that it is time for new ideas. Also, a number of changes he proposes do make sense, such as cross training and charging reasonable fees for services.
We have concerns about consolidation of departments and creating a five member “Cabinet”....
We have had a recent unhappy experience in consolidation of the Public Works, Planning and Building Departments into a “Community Development Department”. Although this action was finally reversed after a negative Grand Jury report, it resulted in a significant loss of taxpayer money and significant violation of property rights.
Perhaps the problem is in the approach. If we assume all government services are of equal value as the recent budget and Steve’s proposal assumes, then a shuffle of departments may, or may not, have some value.
On the other hand, if we ask the question of “what do we want from government?” then a new, fresh approach and plan likely will emerge.
Our constitution suggests the purpose of all government is the protection of the basic rights of people. This has been further identified as the right to Life, Liberty and Property.
A new positive approach could involve prioritizing all functions of county government. By doing so, we would develop an identification of core services, such as Law Enforcement, Courts, Jails, Fire Protection and Public Works.
The mandated unionization of public employees has had some negative consequences for the employee and the taxpayer. These include high retirement system liabilities and creating conflict of interest among public decision makers. This may be part of the reason many communities have discovered success by contracting out services such as Sandy Springs, Georgia. They contracted out practically everything with about a 50% savings to the taxpayer. They used a company named CH2M-Hill, an international firm that oversees and manages the day-to-day operations of the city.
Why not check this out?
In summary, to serve the taxpayer, we should identify what we want from county government, prioritize functions and contract out as much as possible.
Albert J. Segalla, President
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