Saugatuck Mayor, City Manager, and City Council
Endorsed Consolidation Study!
(back in 2002)
Endorsed Consolidation Study!
(back in 2002)
The Saugatuck Mayor, City Manager, and City Council all endorsed the study of consolidating governments, in their words "... to alleviate some of the problems, such as overlapping services and cooperative response to area wide problems." They went so far as to add: "There are good reasons to support such a solution."
Sadly, the words quoted above were published, not ten days ago, but rather ten years ago last month. It was June 24, 2002, almost ten years to the day before the State Boundary Commission would meet in Saugatuck for its public hearing on consolidation. Kalamazoo's McKenna Associates (consultants for community planning and urban design) published their thoughtful, in-depth, and forward-looking 227-page "Ten-Year Strategic Development Program," paid for with taxpayer funds, and endorsed by the City of Saugatuck. Apparently, the mayor, city manager, and city council members who endorsed the study of consolidation back then (and some of these same folks still serve on the Saugatuck City Council*) saw the real opportunity for consolidation to help solve "area wide problems" and alleviate the problem "of overlapping services." This put them in wholehearted agreement with precisely what the Consolidated Government Committee would come together to accomplish.
Now, all this might prompt responsible citizens to ask a few interesting questions, such as...
- So, over the ensuing ten years, exactly what consolidation studies have been undertaken, authored, sponsored, or endorsed by the City of Saugatuck?
- As Douglas and Saugatuck citizens try to make informed decisions on consolidation, can we expect to see even one government-sponsored "consolidation study" published anytime soon?
- Could the currently serving Saugatuck city council members who endorsed the McKenna Associates study* please point to what changed their position on consolidation from open-mindedness (2002) to vehement opposition (2012)?
- Why has the current Saugatuck mayor, city manager, and most of the city council stood as one to oppose consolidation? (Surely, they must have some very compelling studies to support their lockstep opposition!)
Read the entire McKenna Associates study here--posted, ironically enough, on the City of Saugatuck's website.
_______________
The quotes in this article appear on page 71 of the McKenna Associates document.
*The actual names of elected officials referred to above appear on the un-numbered page following the title page of the McKenna Associates document.
Sadly, the words quoted above were published, not ten days ago, but rather ten years ago last month. It was June 24, 2002, almost ten years to the day before the State Boundary Commission would meet in Saugatuck for its public hearing on consolidation. Kalamazoo's McKenna Associates (consultants for community planning and urban design) published their thoughtful, in-depth, and forward-looking 227-page "Ten-Year Strategic Development Program," paid for with taxpayer funds, and endorsed by the City of Saugatuck. Apparently, the mayor, city manager, and city council members who endorsed the study of consolidation back then (and some of these same folks still serve on the Saugatuck City Council*) saw the real opportunity for consolidation to help solve "area wide problems" and alleviate the problem "of overlapping services." This put them in wholehearted agreement with precisely what the Consolidated Government Committee would come together to accomplish.
Now, all this might prompt responsible citizens to ask a few interesting questions, such as...
- So, over the ensuing ten years, exactly what consolidation studies have been undertaken, authored, sponsored, or endorsed by the City of Saugatuck?
- As Douglas and Saugatuck citizens try to make informed decisions on consolidation, can we expect to see even one government-sponsored "consolidation study" published anytime soon?
- Could the currently serving Saugatuck city council members who endorsed the McKenna Associates study* please point to what changed their position on consolidation from open-mindedness (2002) to vehement opposition (2012)?
- Why has the current Saugatuck mayor, city manager, and most of the city council stood as one to oppose consolidation? (Surely, they must have some very compelling studies to support their lockstep opposition!)
Read the entire McKenna Associates study here--posted, ironically enough, on the City of Saugatuck's website.
_______________
The quotes in this article appear on page 71 of the McKenna Associates document.
*The actual names of elected officials referred to above appear on the un-numbered page following the title page of the McKenna Associates document.
