It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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Can you feel it?  It’s the time of the year when Jack Frost starts to nip at our nose and we all dream of what could be.  No not the holidays silly.  The lame duck legislative session.  Every lame duck session is packed with action.  Lets be honest, its a time in the legislature when issues that have been debated at length, but languished because they are tough votes tend to move.  It’s part of the process.  What lame duck shouldn’t be used for is ramming through major policy changes that have not had the benefit of debate and our best collective thinking.  Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening with personal property tax(PPT) reform.

Just to be clear, I am not in favor of the PPT.  It’s a bad tax. It’s tough to administer and can be a disincentive to business investment.  That said, the reality is the PPT provides critical funding to vital local services like police, fire, parks and the like and they are already drastically underfunded. This means any reform must provide guaranteed replacement revenue.  The plan that is on the table attempts to provide replacement revenue but requires a statewide vote, potential local referendums, new levels of government,added bureaucracy, and the possibility of zero replacement revenue if votes fail.   Oh by the way, at this point we only have a plan outline.  We don’t even have bills to read.  So what we have on the table is a plan with more questions than answers.

So my question is what’s the rush?  If we all agree reform is necessary, why hurry such important tax policy changes without making it the best system we can?  We have toiled for years under a cobbled together tax system and that hasn’t exactly been working out so well.  There is too much at stake, and no reason to do this in the next two weeks.  Let’s start a new trend and focus on getting it right, not just getting it done.

Final Introductory Meeting of Michigan Vacant Property Campaign Set in Flint

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The Michigan Vacant Property Campaign, in partnership with the League, will be hosting its final regional roundtable on Tuesday December 4, in Flint. The roundtable provides an opportunity for community members, stakeholders, and local leaders across sectors to learn about the MVPC and the technical assistance services the campaign offers to support and enhance local efforts to address issues posed by vacant properties.  For info on the Flint meeting, visit: http://michiganvacantproperty.org/wp-content/uploads/Roundtable-promotion-flint1.pdf

If you have not been able to attend prior meetings and are interested in the campaign, contact Sean Mann: smann@mml.org

Big Data for Small Communities

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Compass

The Michigan Municipal League identified eight essential assets that make communities vibrant places in the 21st Century (21c3).  Our purpose is to help local officials identify, develop, and implement strategies that will grow and strengthen Michigan’s communities in the coming decades.  Messaging and Technology is one of the eight assets that help local government achieve greater transparency and create new virtual meeting places where people across spectrums of society can share their input and ideas.

I recently came across this article in Fast Company on Analytics for Local Governments.  Big data and transparency are key ingredients for bigger cities with big IT budgets.  Now smaller communities have the opportunity to track how they are performing, utilizing Compass from Revelstone.  I highly recommend taking the time to investigate Compass performance analytics and benchmarking platform for local governments.

Benefits of City and University Partnerships

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By Mayor Dayne Walling & Chancellor Ruth Person

Dayne Walling

Dayne Walling

Ruth Person

Ruth Person

Michigan’s colleges and universities are essential to who we are as a state. We think of ourselves as a diverse family of Wolverines, Spartans, and many others. We are known around the country and across the globe as a place with extraordinary institutions of higher education. In our local communities, Michigan State University has become synonymous with East Lansing, Wayne State University with Detroit, and the list goes on.

Looking ahead into our future, however, this international status and these important relationships can not be taken for granted.

In fact, at a time when talent, economic development, and thriving places are intertwined, it is necessary to nurture city-university partnerships so they grow and expand in innovative and remarkable ways. We believe this will require an unprecedented cooperative effort among public officials and higher education leaders. Our hope is that the dialogue started here about the exciting partnerships already underway will spark greater enthusiasm for this essential effort.

A classroom at University of Michigan-Flint.

One of Flint’s anchor institutions is the University of Michigan-Flint. The campus is literally at the heart of community, where the main street and the river cross. In the past decade, the university has been a catalyst for transforming downtown into a vibrant and diverse space with new residents, facilities, restaurants and events. With more than 8,000 students and 1,000 faculty and staff, the University of Michigan-Flint fills the downtown up every day with hard-working and creative people who have made this the metro region’s fastest growing “neighborhood”.

Joining together as part of the Flint River Corridor Alliance, the City, Mott Community College, Hurley Medical Center, Kettering University and the University of Michigan-Flint are working on a broader vision of redevelopment for the greater river corridor. The corridor is redefining the region as a place of opportunity for growing businesses, eager students, and talented faculty.

A UM-Flint bus picks up and drops off students in downtown Flint.

Strong city-university partnerships created through service-learning, research projects and academic programs are also in place. These include important K-12 alliances such as the Genesee Early College and the Beecher Community Schools project.  The “Vehicle City Voices Database” project aims to create a linguistic and oral history database that contains interviews of residents of Flint. This project will serve as a digital resource for researchers and students on the UM-Flint campus and beyond who are interested in variations in grammar, pronunciations, word use, and speaking styles of English speakers in Flint, MI.  The University supported the City’s grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and agreed to provide in-kind support of $245,000 to the City’s effort. Currently, the University has nearly a dozen faculty and staff involved in various committees that make up the Master Planning process, serving either as residents or technical advisors to the subcommittees.

University of Michigan-Flint students meet at a downtown Flint cafe.

Together, we see tremendous opportunities ahead of us as the City rebounds and the university continues to grow.  As we continue to seek partnerships for mutual benefit, we’ll continue using our annual “Town-Gown” gathering to facilitate the dialogue and generate new and exciting ideas.

We hope that other colleges and universities and the cities they serve will join us in this effort to build a successful future for our State.  We applaud the Michigan Municipal League’s commitment to building strong Town-Gown relationships.

Dayne Walling is the Mayor of Flint, Michigan, and Ruth Person is the chancellor of University of Michigan-Flint.

Well I’m glad that’s over!

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Well It’s finally over.  As of this morning we do not have to watch an endless stream of political ads that tell me yes means no and which candidate is the only real American.   My Facebook friends will no longer have to share their political wisdom and personal beliefs, and my twitter feed won’t be filled with “he said, she said” tweets.  I welcome back with open arms commercials to grow hair and lose weight.  I am excited to see pictures of my friends dog wearing a tuxedo and tweets about how amazing the new IPad and how it will change my life.  Yep life is back to normal.

Unfortunately we are still left with a polarized political system.  Normal also means far too many of our elected officials are guided by views at the far ends of the spectrum, and somehow compromise has become a four letter word.  The challenges that remain are significant. I implore my friends on both sides of the aisle to work together to make Michigan and the United States the best they can be.  It is in everyone’s best interests to find common ground and develop sound public and fiscal policy that moves us forward.  The alternative is unacceptable.

With Liberty and Justice for All

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The American model of democracy is the envy of the entire world.  One person, one vote, the pursuit of happiness, free speech, you know that sort of thing.  Here we have the chance to vote on issues that matter without fear that money or greed would influence our system, we can always rely on truthful information from all sides and gold at the end of every rainbow.

Well at least we have some of those things.

With the election rapidly approaching, I feel compelled to weigh in on Proposals 5 and 6. In my view, the impact of a yes vote would be devastating.   In case you have elected, no pun intended, to tune out to the messaging surrounding the proposals let me give a quick overview.  Proposal 5 would permit a minority in the legislature to prevent any change in taxes no matter the need or reason.  Proposal 6 would ensure that the only viable international trade crossing between Southeast Michigan and Canada is privately controlled held by a single individual.  Frankly one needs only follow the money to figure out who benefits and who doesn’t.

Proposal 5 is simply put the let minority rule proposal.  It boils down to this, even if 135 members of the Legislature voted in favor of closing a tax loophole, ending a special interest tax break, or raising or lowering a tax, just 13 senators could block it.  How hard do you think it would be for a billionaire to control the votes of just 13 state senators?  Sadly not very.  Imagine the power well funded special interests could wield if just 13 legislators could block a policy supported by the other 135 members of the House and Senate.  Scary stuff!  Not exactly what the founding fathers had in mind.

Proposal 6 seems so simple, let the “people” decide.  In reality this is the billionaire full employment act or the international free trade restriction proposal. The “people” in this case are a single family that have made a fortune controlling this international crossing. In a post 911 world, how can we rely on the whims of a single family to manage this critical trade route, which by the way was built 83 years ago?  More importantly the economic impact that would be provided by an additional crossing would be extraordinarily positive for southeast Michigan, just not for the ruling monarchy.  This region stands to benefit greatly from expanded import/export capacity in the form of jobs and investment.  There is only one beneficiary from not building an additional crossing, and it’s not you.

I think the choice is abundantly clear.  VOTE NO on Proposals 5 & 6

 

Technology and Civic Engagement

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Technology EngagementHow can we make our city a better place to live?  This seems like a simple question and one that is often mulled over by local officials on a daily basis.  The key part to the question is “WE”.  What are local officials doing to include their citizens to become part of the solution to the question?  And better yet, how are you as local leaders utilizing technology and communications to foster civic engagement?

I came across the question via the website changeby.us, which is a social network for grassroots leaders.  This is a simple, yet exceptional use of technology for citizens to share their ideas, to work with their local leaders and to generate ideas to make their community a better place.  In today’s fast-paced society of constant, partial attention, with many distractions, there is fierce competition to engage the community.  Local leaders and citizens, though, have a common bond that helps with this attention span conundrum.  They care about their community!  Here is the challenge for Michigan’s local leaders; how do you embrace and utilize technology to facilitate more social connections between you and your citizens?

With one click, a tweet or status update, information can be easily shared.  Although utilizing social networks for sharing information is important, local leaders should also utilize technology engagement to create and support opportunities for people to interact with others.  Engagement technology should connect people, build relationships, increase participation in governance, simplify community discovery and enhance the ability to act.  Creating a technology engagement plan is vital to increasing civic engagement in your community.  What will you do in your community?

Redistribution of Wealth – The Socialists are coming!

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Every so often, whether we are in election season or not, there always seems to be a discussion or two about those who seek to redistribute wealth.  Funny thing is, it only ever seems to be an accusation thrown in the direction of liberal politicians who are accused of wanting to take from the rich and give to the poor.  The contradiction of course is that redistribution of wealth works both ways and has since probably the beginning of time.  It works in favor of home owners (ever heard of the mortgage deduction), seniors, and of course businesses large and small (think replacement of Michigan Business Tax with a corporate income tax and the tax on pensions that was implemented to fund it). 

So the next time you hear about how certain people want to take from the rich and give to the poor, think about how redistribution of wealth is benefitting you personally.

But I digress, because I am not writing today to mainly discuss the contradictions in the social aspect of “redistribution of wealth” but the community building aspect.  That’s right, community building aspect.  A recent article by Stanley Kurtz claims that the President and other political leaders in Northeast Ohio are poised to redistribute wealth from the suburbs to the cities. Mr. Kurtz is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Policy Center and has recently released a book titled, “Spreading the Wealth, How Obama is robbing the suburbs to pay for the cities”.

Mr. Kurtz’s claim is that under the moniker of “regionalism”, President Obama aims to help Ohio’s Democrats bail out struggling cities in that state by forcibly transferring suburban tax money to urban areas.  

Of course efforts on “regionalism” are not just an issue in Ohio.  Here in Michigan, with state revenues to local government cut by over $4 billion during the last decade, local governments have been collaborating for years to provide essential services in the most cost effective and efficient manner as possible.

What strikes me odd about Mr. Kurtz’s arguments and others who espouse such views is that such actions being taken by local governments the Cleveland area, in Michigan and elsewhere around the country seem to be the exact policy that those on the “right” side of the political spectrum would support.  What is more business- like than finding ways to collaborate and spend taxpayer dollars as wisely as possible by exploring every opportunity to work together. 

As for the “redistribution of wealth” argument, a recent article in DC Streetsblog, shows that over the years, the redistribution has been mostly in favor of the suburbs, not the cities.

Isn’t it about time we put aside the so-called red herring known as “redistribution of wealth” and simply worked on what makes sense in this time of finite resources. That being, to invest the taxpayer dollar where we can get the biggest bang for the buck in places where infrastructure already exists, and where there are already assets to build upon.

Cooperation, Consolidation, Bigfoot, Roswell and other Famous Myths

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If I can figure out how to license the phrase cooperation and consolidation, I could retire tomorrow.  As I travel around the state and country working on local government issues, I find that it may be the most overused, and in my view, over heralded phrase in local government. My concern isn’t that I hear it so much, but rather that there is a belief that this will solve the ills created by of a decade of declining revenues and a couple generations worth of underfunded legacy costs.  I think we are more likely to see Sasquatch flying a space ship than we are to solve a broken financial model with consolidation.

Contrary to popular belief, local governments are for the most part well run and operate fairly lean.  Are their advantages to be gained by cooperating with your neighbors or consolidating services?  Probably.  Economies of scale generally will yield efficiencies that can lower the cost of service delivery, but to what end?  If our starting point is two communities that do not provide services to the level we all expect, isn’t it like combining two cars in need of repair and declaring victory because it drives?  Is this our vision for the future?

I don’t believe that the greatest challenge is being more efficient nor is the greatest benefit in combining departments or merging services.  The single biggest financial burden that our core communities are struggling with are legacy costs. Pending legislation in Michigan will help communities to draw a line in the sand and many already have, but they have no ability change the cost structure for those who have vested benefits or have left service.  More needs to be done.  In many established communities, the ratio of retirees to active employees is more than 2 to 1 with far more being spent on healthcare for retirees than is spent on active employees.  The hurdles both on both the human and political level to address this are substantial, but without real change it is not inconceivable that the only services a community might offer will be to hold elections, collect taxes, and pay and insure retirees.

It’s simply unsustainable.

 

Tools of Placemaking

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This week we’ll be up north on Mackinac Island for the League’s annual convention.  The team at the League has put together an outstanding agenda and keynote speakers that are sure to inspire you.  We are certain you’ll be able to take these “tools” back to your communities and incorporate many of the great placemaking ideas discussed.

One of the best parts of the convention for me, is the ability to network with local officials from around the state.  We also focus on spreading the League’s mission, “The one clear voice for Michigan communities”, by utilizing our technological footprint to spread information, via Facebook, Twitter (our hashtag for convention is #mmlconv) and our numerous blogs.  Make sure to visit http://convention.mml.org.

We also have a special convention smartphone app for Androids and iPhones.  This free download will give you the agenda, blogs, social media feeds and all sorts of convention information right in the palm of your hand.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss innovative ideas to utilize social networking to enhance civic engagement, and cloud computing to support community operations, make sure you come visit me in the In•KNOW•vate technology hub.  I’ll be there from 8:00 am – 3:00 pm on Thursday, October 4th.  I’ll be able to demonstrate and walk you through your technology-related questions.  I hope to see you there.