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 […]
Consolidation seems simple enough
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 inPhil's Column
Important news about your 'life'
When I was running my newspaper company back in the go-go 1980s and ’90s, finding and hiring good talent was tough — especially at the wages we could afford. Michigan’s economy was on a roll. The auto companies were hiring everybody in sight. Employers were fighting to recruit talented people, and the newspaper business was […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
All Michigan regions grew in 2010
Michigan’s regional economies surged ahead in 2010, propelled by a surprisingly robust manufacturing sector and solid growth from the “information economy.” The latest figures are a positive pivot from a decade that saw most Michigan regions lag economically. Between 2001 and 2009, 11 of 14 Michigan metropolitan areas recorded declines in real gross domestic product […]
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 inTalent & Education
Schools take tax repeal personally
Elimination of the personal property tax could cost schools $548 million, according to an analysis by the non-partisan House Fiscal Agency. The state’s personal property tax isn’t really personal, but rather a tax mainly incurred by businesses for things such as commercial furniture, industrial machinery and utility equipment. Senate Bill 34, now under consideration by […]
Posted inTalent & Education
'Skills gap' goes national
Via Politico.com, a new analysis is out from Bloomberg BusinessWeek on a topic familiar to Bridge readers this week — the “skills gap”: “FIRST LOOK: AMERICA OUT OF WORK – Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover, “America Isn’t Working,” looks at the skills gap among American workers. From the piece by Drake Bennett: “Even with 14 million Americans […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain” — Adlai E. Stevenson Jr., two-time Democratic presidential nominee and a governor of Illinois. * The invaluable Michigan Campaign Finance Network, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan can't fit college grads into job slots
If Amy Dobson is a rock and Gentex is a hard place, Gov. Rick Snyder is stuck between them. Dobson, an effervescent 23-year-old from Okemos, finished a five-year degree program in education from Michigan State University last spring. Despite holding a bachelor’s degree from a top-ranked education school, Dobson couldn’t find a job in her home […]
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