"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
- First Amendment to the United States Constitution
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
- First Amendment to the United States Constitution
Formation of the Committee
The Consolidated Government Committee is a grassroots citizens group formed in the best traditions of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, specifically its guarantee of the right to assemble, and to petition the government.
Government consolidation in Douglas and Saugatuck was first recommended in the Tri-Community Plan of 1989. In the twenty-three years that have passed since then, neither city government had commissioned a study on consolidation and the opportunity to consolidate governments was never submitted to the voters. To a group of local citizens, this amounted to the governed being denied their rights by those who govern. Reversing this injustice represented a "redress of grievance" reminiscent of that which energized the Founding Fathers.
In 2009, the group came together to form the Consolidated Government Committee, aiming to finally bring the local-government consolidation matter to the ballot. As a required part of that effort, over 400 signatures were collected, and on November 2, 2011, a formal petition, accompanied by extensive maps and other legally required information, was forwarded to the state Boundary Commission. It called for a three-jurisdiction consolidation; the two cities and Saugatuck Township. In April of 2012, the CGC revised its position to focus only on the consolidation of Saugatuck and Douglas.
The Consolidation Issue
A number of Douglas and Saugatuck local-government services--police and fire departments among them--have been successfully consolidated over the past two decades (in itself, a powerful argument in favor of consolidation). However, others--notably including the municipal overhead categorized as "general government" and "economic/community development"-- have not. The result is the current status quo: two fully staffed, mirror-image complements of local-government officials, serving just 2,100 citizens in all. On a per-capita basis, this striking inefficiency means that while our two governments go off in their own directions, our citizens shoulder two to three times the government-expense burden of comparable nearby communities. This cost-of-government disparity is not simply some quaint relic of days gone by. It represents a serious competitive disadvantage for our community.
While there is virtually no question consolidation offers significant annual cost savings (with the latest two Plante Moran analyses showing a conservative estimate of $500,000 a year), this is just part of the rationale in support of moving to one jurisdiction. In our view, the most significant benefit of consolidation will be the ability to unite our community's strengths, and focus our energy on the key challenges facing Douglas and Saugatuck in the years to come.
Put simply, consolidating government means our community will move forward in one direction, not two.
And the citizens of Douglas and Saugatuck must be permitted to vote on this.
