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City/County Consolidation

thetoolman

By thetoolman
in Tallahassee

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Consolidation makes even more sense now

MY VIEW {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} Brian Armstrong

Shouldn't Amendment 1 be the catalyst for the complete consolidation of Tallahassee and Leon County governments, and not just a piecemeal coordination of duplicative services? The savings to be gained by consolidation over the long term are obvious, as the superstructures currently in place to fund two separate government operations would be cut to one. What also should be obvious are the time, labor and other efficiencies to be gained in areas such as budgeting, zoning, planning, emergency services, growth management and permitting, to name several.

A further advantage is the opportunity to establish a single vision for what our community should look like 30 years from now. Tallahassee and Leon County deserve congratulations for many community improvements, but the process is inefficient, costly and, at times, absurd. As long as we do not have a single, long-term vision for what we want our community to be and what we want our elected officials to be guided by, government decision-making will be inefficient and based upon the special-interest lobbying effort du jour, which will skillfully prey upon the short-term aspirations of politicians simply to be re-elected.

Source: Tallahassee Democrat

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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March 13, 2008

Reinvention

Tweaking local budgets won't cut it

When Leon County commissioners on Tuesday were talking about whether to retain the executive director of the Tourist Development Council, Commissioner John Dailey wondered if, in the midst of the county's $13 million shortfall, it made sense to spend roughly $3 million on one agency whose main efforts have been overseeing three contracts. Perhaps, Mr. Dailey said, the commission should think about absorbing that job in-house and save millions by directly overseeing an agency that, in some officials' minds, hasn't strongly justified its reason for being.

The shortfall now facing the county, as well as a projected deficit of $9 million facing City Hall next year, should not be viewed as a temporary and passing problem that a rejuvenated economy eventually will solve. A majority of Leon County voters believed the passage of Amendment 1 was misguided; nevertheless the property-tax initiative's implications are no longer simply conjecture. Tuesday county commissioners cut branch-library hours, increased health-insurance premiums for some employees, and will encourage longtime county workers to take early retirement.

At City Hall, commissioners on Feb. 27 eliminated 34 staff positions, reduced funding for construction projects and cut operating expenses. Yet both governments have barely begun the process of doing everything that will need to be accomplished to balance the books while still providing essential public services and, it is hoped, protect the safety, quality and character of our community. Elected officials and top administrators in our two local governments must enact even tougher accountability measures on everything they fund. Duplication and inefficiency are no longer affordable.

No one assumes the process will be painless. Nonprofit organizations, which provide our community with invaluable human and cultural services, are genuinely anxious about the immediate future. Many receive public support, without which it's questionable some will survive. As Mr. Dailey pointed out Wednesday, a lot of public support for the arts now comes from county general revenue. A more holistic approach to the budget situation, he said, would include the possibility of using hotel-bed tax money instead.

Several other budget- and service-related alternatives have been explored in the past

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Glenn Hamlet

Glenn

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^ All the more reason for Consolidation. Both Governments are struggling to find solutions & cut expenses yet we CONTINUE to have all the duplicity of services, etc. If we had numerous municipalities in our County then it would be one thing but with Leon County just having One City it is way past time to consolidate.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Each entity has its strengths. I think it's kinda crazy that we always go back to this debate over law enforcement when someone says consolidation. We could have two Chiefs of Police one for the city limits, and the other for unincorporated areas with the services divided as such. Seems an easy fix in my brain.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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Awesome. Dailey and Desloge are both a breath of fresh air for the county. With Dailey working on matters like this and Desloge working on the efficiency issues and also actively working to recruit possible business/investments in the downtown/Gaines area (which he has been actively doing with out-of-state developers), I think we really are going to begin to see some changes being made and the status quo challenged. I can only hope that their counterparts over at the city get on board......
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josefk Whistle-Stop

josefk

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josefk, can you offer us anything extra on the work Desloge is doing to recruit out-of-state developers/possible business/investors to downtown?

I've heard them say a few times they are challenging the status quo and I'm so happy about that. As far as their counterparts at the city are concerned, I think most of them are ready to get on board and work with the county to move Tallahassee forward. The real dirty work needs to be done within the confines of that County Courthouse.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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I don't have my notes from the meeting handy, but I do know that he has been in direct communication with a development group (out of which northern state I can't seem to recall off hand) specializing in urban revitalization with a proven track record in college towns. This group has apparently recognized the disposable income of the current undergraduate demographic (I recognize it all the time when I pull up behind a Range Rover or Lexus with a fraternity or sorority decal on the back) and has had success with putting in higher-end retail aimed at making a true destination area (which is imperative for Gaines given the current lack of occupied housing units in the immediate vicinity notwithstanding the wonderful growth in the All Saints area). Poonther was at the meeting as well, so perhaps he can shed some more light on the subject.............

On a side note, Commissioner Desloge was having the communications and working hard to make this thing happen while on his vacation :thumbsup:

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TD Burg

TD

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If we can't do a complete City/County consolidation, hopefully we can work towards what is known as a functional consolidation much like Miami-Dade has and I believe Charlotte/Mecklenburg County operates this way too.

I'll post info in the Gaines street thread about the other stuff.

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Florida Megalopolis

Florida

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No affiliation whatsoever with his original campaign or re-election campaign, and we share different party affiliations ;) Shared political ideology or not, I respect the fact that he's working hard to get the train moving in the right direction and would like to see some of our more "seasoned" elected officials start acting as much as they're talking.
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