County leaders meet to share ideas

Nick Schirripa and Andy Rathbun
The Enquirer

Leaders from almost every level of government in Calhoun County met Wednesday to look for ways to share services and cut costs.

More than 60 county, city, township and village officials brainstormed areas ripe for consolidation, eventually whittling down a list of 26 ideas to eight focus areas.

Areas include joining together for group insurance plans, coming up with a countywide strategy to address crime and improving the county's technological infrastructure to aid Internet access.

The Calhoun County Summit on Intergovernmental Cooperation convened on the heels of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's call in February for greater cooperation between local governments. Granholm said extra state funding could be sent to entities that prove they are working together.

Facilitating the summit was John Amrhein, a local government expert and Cadillac-based Michigan State University district extension educator. He said the idea behind intergovernmental cooperation is taxpayer benefit.

"We have to think in terms of providing a better value to citizens, whether it's more services or better services," he said.

While sharing resources and services may prove easier for government entities than actually merging, Amrhein said any cooperation hinges on trust between communities.

"Whatever happened in the past, we need to put that aside and work on building trust," he said. "It really requires each one of us to do the things we say we're going to do, do them well, and really work to build that trust."

Newton Township Treasurer Shirley Clutter said the group work and summit encouraged elected officials and administrative leaders to think in broader terms.

"Our community perceptions need to be expanded," she said. "I like the idea of cooperating so that issues can be shared across boundaries."

While the free flow of ideas seemed to help officials look outside their political and geographic borders, it also caused some to take a closer look at themselves.

"I think this really puts the onus on cities and townships to really look at how they operate," said Marshall Mayor Bruce Smith. "If we don't run our government responsibly, why would anyone want to share anything with us?"

At the summit's conclusion, eight groups were formed to develop strategies to advance consolidation efforts. The countywide summit may reconvene in September for a shorter session to begin discussing individual strategies.

"This is the first step in the process," Calhoun County Board Chairwoman Kate Segal said. "There will need to be follow through."

Buddy up
The Calhoun County Summit on Intergovernmental Cooperation focused on on eight areas for possible consolidation and resource sharing. Areas are:

Geographic Information Systems: A countywide mapping database that could aid everything from health department strategies to business development.

Insurance: A way to pool together to lower insurance costs, which can be particularly high on a per-employee basis in short-staffed townships.

911 service: A form of countywide emergency dispatch.

Public safety planning: A means to attack crime throughout all of the county, and not on a city-by-city basis.

Economic development: Joint efforts to bring and keep business in Calhoun County.

Communications: Improving the means to communicate between citizens and government entities.

Technological advances: Strengthening the infrastructure in Calhoun County to improve access to high-speed Internet.

Public transportation: Creating a form of metropolitan transit that serves the county.

Nick Schirripa can be reached at 966-0692 or nschirrip@battlecr.gannett.com. Andy Rathbun can be reached at 962-3380 or arathbun@battlecr.gannett.com.

Originally published April 26, 2007
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