The Town that Privatized Everything

isll ^

[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.

[codder too]

The government official named in the comments section would involved in awarding contracts. He could be voted out of office but how many of his friends will be awarded contracts until that happens?

[Noamie]

Actually, you are right. I guess i fell back into the local assumption that Fulton and Atlanta are the same thing.

[Nifster]

“Maybe they work for a city.”

Great answer

I live just up the road from Sandy Springs. It is a great little city (I tend to call it a town but that’s me). They have done amazing things there and continue to prosper. The city leadership is so competent and knowledgable it puts other politicians to shame. The mayor is a free market, professor emeritus of economics. The manage has done an outstanding job of paying attention to the details of contracts. People should pay more attention.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

And yet it has been chugging along for a decade and is going just fine.