Board of Commissioners
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Chair Roger Morgan Collaboration is Our Competitive Advantage Rotary Club of Grand Rapids Thursday, December 3, 2009 Thanks to Peter Albertini and members of Rotary for the invitation. It’s a privilege to be here with you today. Thanks also to Sandi Frost Parrish for the kind introduction. You know, the experience of serving in elected office reminds me of the old adage “you can’t choose your relatives.” In public service, your responsibility is to work with the people the voters send to serve. Not all members of that family see things the same way. But it is that diversity of thought, background, ideas and perspective that makes it so interesting. I also think – and this is historically true at the Board level in Kent County – most leaders serve because of a commitment to public service and good policy vs. “political passion.” My tenure has provided me an opportunity to work with so many people I would otherwise have never known. I feel fortunate to know them all and call them colleagues and friends. About a year ago I presented what I said would be my “last” State of the County address to the County Board of Commissioners. They gave me a standing ovation! Not sure if that was a compliment. But this time it’s for real. I hope to continue to serve the County Commission as a board member – but this – I promise – is my last speech as Board Chair. Here’s what I want to do during our brief time together this afternoon. I would like to share with you what I believe are some of the County’s more significant recent accomplishments. I will briefly share some observations and lessons learned after 4 years as Chair pursuing those accomplishments. And finally I have a few thoughts on our immediate future. This is a truly interesting time to be in public service. The world is an increasingly dynamic place. The tyranny of the moment, of course, is the economic crisis and the related fiscal stress that is affecting every unit of government, particularly us at the local level. As an elected official, I strive to take the long-term view and seek out optimal
policy solutions. I hope that during my tenure as Chair we’ve moved with
purpose, proper planning, common sense and consistency around a positive vision
for what our community is and can be. We focused intently in recent years on maintaining and improving basic infrastructure:
We continue to prioritize public safety and security:
We’ve also worked hard and smart to maintain our fiscal stability and stewardship of taxpayer dollars. I’m happy to report we have a fund balance in the black. Although when I started the general fund balance was approximately $119 million. We spent some of that down deliberately. But we also dipped in to cover budgets and the state’s shifting dates for property tax collections. Still, through all the volatility of the financial fallout, we’ll likely end the year with a fund balance of about $60 million. We’ll take it these days. One thing I’ve learned is that stability is both rare and important in a world that seems more and more unpredictable. And I believe it’s fair to say that Kent County is one of the more stable units of government in Michigan. I also have a whole new appreciation for and understanding of the “speed of government.” I believe you can be stable and still maintain momentum. In fact it’s a necessity given the increasing tempo of change and competitiveness in the world today. But government doesn’t always move at the pace of the outside world. So I’m thankful the county has capable staff and dedicated commissioners. Together we were able to bring closure to many important initiatives begun earlier than my chairmanship. The new DHS facility, for example, was talked about for more than 20 years. The movement for consolidating the 63rd District Court began more than a decade ago. Per diem charges at the jail for ordinance violators was a disagreement between the county and the cities for nearly 100 years. Now I do like the old adage about “the best way to drive cattle fast is slowly and carefully.” But moving forward, I believe our community only grows stronger and more prosperous if we spend less time debating Who is right? and more time discussing What is right? This leads me to a closing thought on our immediate future. The West Michigan community is known for cooperation and partnership. But we can do better. I believe it’s in our region’s best, long-term interests to ramp up collaboration – across our local units of government in particular. We’ve talked about this for decades. And for good reason. Greater government collaboration and consolidation is just plain common sense. Although sometimes in government the more sense something makes, the more suspicion it arouses. We have a stack of reports, white papers and speeches dating back to the early 1990’s about the importance of regionalism. My predecessor David Morren stood before Rotary in March 2004 and declared “The reality is we live regionally, so we have to think regionally. And to think regionally, we must think collaboratively.” I remember a speech John Logie delivered several years ago when he made us aware that we have more elected officials managing the various local units of government that makeup Kent County than we do running the entire United States of America in D.C. We elect 537 people to manage the U.S. – 435 Congressman, 100 Senators, a President and Vice President. We elect 637 people to run local government in Kent County. These are mayors, council representatives, supervisors and village presidents, etc. And, as John Logie pointed out, all of them have managers, deputy managers, planning directors, police chiefs, fire chiefs, clerks, treasurers, etc. Forward-looking economists agree that regions – not necessarily cities, states or nations – are the competitive governing unit in the global economy. Kent County has a tradition of collaborating across many sectors – public, private, nonprofit – many organizations and many issues, notably in the delivery of critical human services. The Kent Schools Services Network, for example, is genuine community coalition of 18 different public service groups, institutions, companies and foundations all focused on increasing student achievement. Closer collaboration with our partners enables us to solve lingering issues such as the jail per diem and build incredible assets such as the Convention Center and Millenium Park. What the County does is truly innovative, and it’s rooted in the trust among people and organizations in West Michigan. But if we’re truly going to get serious about regional collaboration the private sector must take a more robust leadership role. Corporate leadership is key to help government understand how best to act in economically rationale ways. Proven business experience is necessary to develop a strategic plan of action that enables government to most effectively harness “market forces” for public purposes. A caution about expectations: Enhanced collaboration and municipal consolidation is not a silver bullet solution for fiscal crisis at the local level. I believe the benefits have more to do with creating new opportunities and new alliances to seize those opportunities. Here’s a thought some might perceive as radical to illustrate the point: If Kent County merged with the City of Grand Rapids, the singular unit of government would catapult from about #89 on the list of America’s largest metropolitan areas to somewhere around #25, according to 2000 Census data. The positive effect on our economic competitiveness would be enormous. Business activity, for example, would increase as the region moved up national site selection rankings. Local government could achieve new efficiency by eliminating duplication of services. The region would speak with a more unified and influential voice on key public policy issues in Lansing and Washington D.C. To quote Teddy Roosevelt: What I am advocating here is not wild radicalism. It’s the highest and wisest form of conservatism. Moving the “regionalism” and “consolidation” debate more swiftly and strategically from talk to action is common sense. And I believe the private sector, the members of organizations such as the Right Place, Inc. – another Kent County partner – must lead the way. They understand better than anyone the disadvantages of too much government. They also know best how to root out duplication, redundancy and waste in an organization. An immediate next step might be to send a unified message to Lansing: Modern policy is necessary to enhance local collaboration for our long-term success. Several state laws actually block – rather than facilitate – closer cooperation and collaboration among our communities. That makes no sense, and it threatens to retard our growth and competitiveness moving forward. So – there you have it – the time has arrived – it’s time to begin my “Forgotten, but not gone tour.” Thank you all very much! Roger C. Morgan |
