FeedsThink carefully before signing petitions
A group of Wayne residents are circulating petitions in order to make some changes in the city.
Some are good, some are bad.
I haven’t seen any petition-circulators myself but, as usual, I’ve been a bit distracted. I’ve seen the petitions, though, as well as the response from some city officials and it points to the same old method of operation from the city council.
Two of the three petitions deal with the public safety department. They would force the city to adopt a minimum staffing level for the police and fire departments that would be based on a population formula, rather than the economic reality of any given year-or two.
The other would remove the weed ordinance from the city charter, essentially speeding up the process by which those who don’t take care of their property could be cited and brought into compliance.
That’s a good idea; the process the city uses now is slow and cumbersome-and expensive. Usually those residents who don’t take enough care of their property to be cited wait until the last moment to take care of the issue, which results in a recurring eyesore that is alleviated every few months.
The fire and police issues are a little more troubling.
I understand the concept; it probably originated from the budget battles of recent years, in which the city has been forced to reduce staff and trim services in the wake of declining revenue and increasing costs. That situation has often pitted department against department-at least behind the scenes-and left city officials pondering the very nature of essential public services. What’s more important, a broken road, a speeding car, the quality of life amenities that bring people to the city?
Having a set formula would alleviate that debate, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing for the city. Officials in school districts are always talking about unfunded mandates they have to meet from the state, requirements passed down from Lansing that they can’t necessarily afford-such as increased contributions to the state employee pension fund.
A set formula for police and fire staff would essentially be an unfunded mandate for the city. It would require the city to staff those departments according to the formula, regardless of whether there was enough funding to pay for those employees and all of the other services the city provides. It would eliminate any ability for the city to react to budget difficulties and could have unforeseen consequences for areas like the Department of Public Works or the Parks and Recreation Department.
That said, it’s curious to see that city officials, who were so ambiguous with figures as they tried to sell their two tax increases to residents earlier this year, already have an idea of exactly how much those two reforms would cost.
If and when the petition circulators come knocking on my door, I’ll be happy to sign the one, but won’t sign the other two.
