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Privatizing City Services |
| Section: CURRENT ISSUES / ANALYSIS |
| Author: John C. Weicher |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 2/1/1997 |
| Size: 2,023 Words, 13,237 Characters |
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The ideas are competition and privatization, and they are as old as Adam Smith. Under the leadership of a new generation of reform-oriented mayors, cities are turning to the private sector to provide many public services.
City governments are selling facilities to private owners and putting services up for bid between private providers and municipal agencies.
*In Indianapolis, Mayor Stephen Goldsmith has privatized the management of a large wastewater treatment plant (after the federal government wouldn't let him sell it) and has contracted for maintenance services on the city's fleet of trucks and heavy equipment.
*In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley has hired private firms to provide janitors and parking lot attendants at O'Hare Airport and privatized the management of city-owned golf courses.
*In Jersey City, Mayor Bret Schundler has hired private firms instead of using municipal employees to remove graffiti, with an added twist: The firms are picked by neighborhood residents.
*These cities are following in the footsteps of Phoenix, which began competitively contracting many services nearly 20 years ago.
INDIANAPOLIS AS MODEL
The acknowledged leader in the movement is Indianapolis. Since Goldsmith was first elected in 1991, the city has moved more than 40 services into the marketpla...
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...tion, more efficient local public services may be an economic stimulus. Major businesses weigh the quality of life in deciding where to locate, and high-quality public services are part of what they look for.
Competition and privatization, then, are proving they can make cities better places to work and live. The upshot is that the private sector is showing it can perform a public service.
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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