Posted on 06/27/2014 9:14:16 PM PDT by TigerClaws
Sandy Springs, Georgia may look like any other town in America. It has parks, roads, and beautiful places to live. But there’s one thing that separates this town from every other town: Sandy Springs privatized almost everything.
In 2005, Sandy Springs outsourced almost all functions of the city government (with the exception of police and fire) to a single company, which runs the town. That company is in charge of running all the vital functions of government, from the running the parks, to paving the roads, and even 911 calls!
The town is run very efficiently, with zero backlogs in permit requests. Call the city, and you’ll be surprised to find that you actually get a friendly person on the other line! The city has a 24/7 non-automated customer service hotline which fields about 6,000 calls per month. It also has a state of the art traffic system with cameras and a high tech command center.
(Excerpt) Read more at isil.org ...
Our town has no police. It contracts with the sheriff.
I don't get the protests against privatization 'creating a monopoly', either. The company would have a contract renegotiated at mandated intervals which would give the city an opportunity to change companies, AND any breach of contract by the company would allow the city to drop them like a hot 'tater and pick someone else.
Its not the like a perpetual, unbreakable control 'regular' government has in most cities today.
This article’s information is out of date, and it’s a little misleading. Yes, initially there was a single contractor, CH2M Hill, providing all services outside of police and fire. But they bid the contract out periodically.
Currently, they have five major contractors for city services. See the box titled “Careers with Sandy Springs General Services Contractors” here:
http://www.sandyspringsga.gov/Careers
The periodic bidding should allay your concerns.
Most of the new cities in the North Atlanta suburbs are using the Sandy Springs model.
I was with you up until “It used to be part of Atlanta.”
Sandy Springs used to be an area that was part of unincorporated Fulton County, which of course is the county that most of the City of Atlanta is in (for the non-locals).
I remember when the only Pizza Hut in our area was on the Sandy Springs/285 exit. We lived off of N. Peacctree Road way back when. At the time, Pizza Hut was about the only place to get a take out pizza. Otherwise to eat a pizza at home one had to buy the messy kits in the grocery store.
Background for the naysayers w/o the facts:
Articles on Sandy Springs:
2006:
http://reason.org/news/show/122369.html
Sandy Springs Incorporates, Inspires New Wave of ‘Private’ Cities in Georgia
City opts to contract out nearly all government services
Leonard Gilroy and Steve Stanek
November 1, 2006
Fed up with high taxes and poor service delivery, the nearly 90,000 residents of Sandy Springs in Georgia’s Fulton County voted in 2005 to incorporate, making Sandy Springs the first new city in Georgia in 50 years.
The incorporation has gone so well that two new municipalities are about to be created in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta. Residents of John’s Creek and Milton voted to incorporate in July. The areas will become cities on December 1.
Incorporation votes in other unincorporated areas of the county are slated for next year.
(snip)
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2011:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/22/sandy-springs-georgia-privatize-outsource_n_852466.html
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2012:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/business/a-georgia-town-takes-the-peoples-business-private.html?pagewanted=all
Bottom line: The icorporated, privatized city of Sandy Springs or the city of Atlanta? A no-brainer.
You get it.
This model is working pretty well, for Sandy Springs and the other nearby newly-minted cities - Dunwoody, Brookhaven, Peachtree Corners, John’s Creek, and Milton. And I’m probably missing someone.
Whoops: Fulton County as bad as Atlanta. I consider it part of generic Atlanta.
They can be sued for failing to comply with the terms, or simply not rehired.
1%, 3%, 5% or better?
Normally contracts are granted on “Politics” rather than on the merits of the contractor and their past history.
Failure to perform is usually negated by the contractor’s bankruptcy due to having a “Front” corporation established only to do the job or project.
In many cases, the contractor has no problem at all; for all is forgiven...and this is very common depending upon their ties to the party of the city concerned.
When it comes to the word “Professional”, it simply does not exist in a world of political correctness and politics in all levels of government...from the lowest to the highest.
Read this article and then scroll down to some of the last comments which discuss possible corruption still existing.
Whoa... what about Agenda 21?
That's probably true with regard to the singular structure that's on fire. The greater purpose of a fire department however, is to keep a single fire from spreading into a wider conflagration.
Hope this catches on.
Exactly. And what is interesting is that instead of having debt into the future due to pensions for PD and Fire, they set those up on 401k style programs.
I know there are knee jerk liberals but this is the first time I have run into a knee jerk conservative. Government is a monopoly. It is price insensitive and demand ignorant. By its very nature entrenched bureaucracy is slow, inefficient, and expense to run. The Sandy Springs model is probably closer to what things were like before government got so big and know it all.
Why would anyone not be willing to try something that has and is working elsewhere? I guess some folks just tend towards anarchy
There is a contract, remember? When you make a contract you can put in the contract whatever you want. If A-21 becomes an issue you change business contract.
“The problem isn’t government”
Yes it is. The problem is liberal government, the problem is conservative government, the problem is Democrat government, the problem is Republican government.
The problem is government.
Our founding fathers saw this, and specifically limited government.
The problem is most definitely government.
“Read this article and then scroll down to some of the last comments which discuss possible corruption still existing.”
Corruption exists in every institution created by man. However, this one does it with half the people, so they will by very definition have less corruption than a “fully staffed” government.
Thanks for the info for us non-locals, BTW.
Yep, and one of the biggest expenses are employees. Not just paying wages, but pensions and all the ever changing medical insurance, workers comp, fighting off suits of discrimination and 'unfairness', etc.
Going private would shield the city to a great extent from these types of expenses....and thus passing the savings to the taxpayers.
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Why would anyone not be willing to try something that has and is working elsewhere?
Good question, and honestly, I don't get the objections, either.
Maybe they work for a city.
I think it is a great idea. I am glad they are doing it the right way.
Thanks, could be on the IRS watch list.
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