Government creators versus critics

Adam Haber

I have come to the conclusion there are two kinds of people in this world, those who create and those who critique.

When I think of creators in the business world, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk come to mind.

Now, they are known as titans in their fields, but along the way there were many naysayers.

Yet, in spite of these critics, they took chances, forged ahead, created new industries, and became wildly successful.

In the political world, some of my favorite creators include Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

They also had strong critics every step of the way, but the world is better for their visionary endeavors.

Recently Gov. Cuomo, knowing Long Island is suffering from a tax burden among the highest in the country, and a foreclosure rate as of February 2016 four times the national average, called for local governments to create savings through shared services.

Unfortunately, some local elected officials, such as state Sen. Elaine Phillips, have criticized the governor, calling his proposed incentives for local governments to share services “horrendous” and saying, “I don’t need his heavy hand to come down…and tell us how to run our business.”

The truth is, with our exceptionally high local taxes and foreclosure rates, we need all the help we can get.

If it weren’t for the tax cap the governor imposed in June of 2011, there would have been little incentive for local governments to find savings.

There is a strong need to continue to push further.

As someone who has run businesses in finance, real estate and hospitality, I have learned first hand that success is dependent upon a never ending push to find efficiencies.

In the political world residents have told us by their actions that New York isn’t efficient.

According to website All Over Albany, “between 2010 and 2016, New York has lost almost a net 850,000 people to domestic migration.”

New Yorkers are fleeing to states like Texas, Colorado and Florida in search of more affordable places to live.

In support of Gov. Cuomo, I have some suggestions that local governments can consider to find shared savings:

Villages

1. Share services such as security, snow plowing and cleaning village streets.

2. Upgrade to solar power. One easy way to do this is to work with the The New York Power Authority, which has recently expanded its Green Power Program which “offers a convenient, customizable and cost-effective way for customers to ‘green’ their electricity supply by purchasing renewable energy in the form of (Renewable energy Credits) RECs.”

Local governments should band together to get better pricing to install solar panels on all local government buildings.

3. Share back office services like human resources and legal. Villages should cooperatively bid to find savings for services like alarm monitoring,  and cesspool cleaning.

Water Districts

There are 46 in Nassau County, creating unnecessary duplication of services and staffing.

Fewer water districts can easily provide the same service, as proven by Suffolk County, which has more than five times the land area of Nassau and a fraction of the water districts.

In short, there is no reason to have 46 separate water districts, and merging small, contiguous water districts would generate immediate savings.

School Districts

Let me be clear, I do not advocate for combining school districts. However, I do advocate for different school districts working together to combine busing for children who attend schools out of district.

In Roslyn, where I am a school board trustee, five years ago I spearheaded a pilot collaborative busing program with just a few neighboring districts.

This year many other districts are participating.

In Nassau County, Roslyn is one of roughly 10 school districts that owns and operates its own buses.

This year we picked up about 15 students from other districts, as we transported our district’s students to schools out of district.

We split the busing costs, generated almost $100,000 in new revenue, and saved neighboring districts the same amount. We also share continuing education classes with other districts to drive down costs.

More school districts should do the same.

Fire Districts

Long Island has 126 fire districts. I have spoken to many local fire chiefs, who lament there isn’t greater communication among their peers.

Roughly every 10 years, each fire department purchases a new fire truck, costing as much as $500,000 or more.

There would be tremendous economies of scale if the 126 fire districts worked together to coordinate purchasing these trucks at the same time.

I am sure there will be plenty of naysayers criticizing these suggestions.

Still, without offering viable alternatives, complaining demonstrates nothing more than a lack of ingenuity.

Are your local elected officials creators or complainers?

The complainers aren’t thinking of solutions. Gov. Cuomo is.

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