Last week, I drew attention to a memo from Eric Scorsone regarding the potential cost savings from consolidating local governments and services. My takeaway from the memo was that consolidation is not the big kahuna if your goal is simply to save money. The issue is far too nuanced for one single policy change to […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
How 15,000 lost a lottery they didn't even play
Did one man’s luck turn into a financial catastrophe for Michigan’s poor? Mention the name Leroy Fick in a room of social service agency directors, and the temperature drops. Heads shake. Shoulders slump. Curses are mumbled. Fick won the lottery — and 15,000 people will lose their food assistance, as of Oct. 1. That’s the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Man behind the law: Bruce Timmons
When it comes to the state’s judiciary and laws against crime, perhaps no one alive has had a greater role in drafting them than Bruce Timmons. Timmons is not a member of the Legislature. But he has been a key staff member for the House Judiciary Committee going all the way back to an internship […]
Posted inMichigan Government
$340 million bill looms over state parks
State parks in Michigan are facing a long road to recovery, even with new funding sources On a mild winter morning in March 2009, prison inmates working at Ludington State Park discovered that part of the roof at the park’s popular Great Lakes Visitor Center had collapsed. A hard winter, which dumped 130 inches of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Consolidation seems simple enough
One of the great challenges in good governance is the paradox that seemingly obvious solutions may not be solutions at all. Such is the case with the oft-repeated desire to streamline Michigan’s plethora of local governments and their functions. The human mind sees Michigan’s 2,300-odd units of local government and instinctively knows that some pruning […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Beach closures hit record; stormwater runoff blamed
Diana Farris took her family to Young State Park in Charlevoix in late July to try to escape a brutal heat wave that was baking much of the Midwest. Her plan was to spend the hottest part of the day swimming in the lake with her husband and two daughters. Things changed a couple of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Pure slacking — Michigan falters on conservation
Images of children frolicking on scenic beaches fill a television screen as the soothing voice of actor Tim Allen narrates the commercial promoting Michigan as the place to spend “the perfect summer.” A line you won’t hear Allen speak: Beach closures due to bacterial pollution — contamination linked to fecal matter — have doubled in […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Moroun family gets busy
We’re all familiar with the secret ballot in our democratic republic. Now, Michigan apparently has secret lobbying. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network reported today that it found $4.7 million in broadcast ad spending by the Detroit International Bridge Co. so far in 2011 — and none of it has been reported as lobbying. The ad […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Legislature, check your residency work
One of the more ill-advised things the Legislature and Gov. John Engler did back in the 1990s was to impose their “wisdom” on Michigan communities that made residency requirements for certain public servants. The Legislature decided that for the city of Detroit to require police officers to live in Detroit was unacceptable, for example. They […]
Posted inMichigan Government
SE Michigan is hotbed for government collaboration talks
Michigan is well-populated with organizations and people studying how to develop better public policies and better governments. One such group is the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan. A key part of their work is to survey government leaders to discern what’s going on in the trenches of delivering […]
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