Privatizing a Public Asset: Pulling Babies out of the River
May 27, 2008
By Patrick Carano, PDA Ohio, Summit County Chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America
It was unfortunate to read Mayor Plusquellic's comments painting detractors of the proposed sale, and now lease, of the sewer system as "born against" citizens opposed to every idea he has to offer. As a State Coordinator and Summit County Chapter member of the Progressive Democrats of America, President of the Tallmadge Democratic Club and an active Democrat in the Summit County Democratic Party, I have been supportive of the Mayor and I find it interesting he would paint with such a broad brush anyone who disagrees.
Most urban centers have not fared well in an economy that has dramatically changed in the last twenty years. But Akron has had good leadership as well as some luck. The rubber industry transitioned more easily into the new economy (think polymers for a moment) than a Youngstown or a Canton, where steel production met a dead end in making the jump to new technologies. I, for one believe the Mayor has done a tremendous job in keeping Summit County's urban center a viable place to live and work during his tenure. I also want to believe that the Mayor floated this idea to sell the sewer system as a starting dialogue point to focus attention on a very real problem- the high cost of post-secondary education in Ohio facing middle and lower income families.
Are there other ways to create the next generation of highly trained professionals emerging from our universities? Many Northeast Ohio think-tanks, chambers, local governments, public and private economic development organizations, and area universities, once structured to work within their own paradigmatic silos are now making progress in working together to find new ways to reach consensus on developing a single action plan dedicated to building on our educational system. This new collaborative thinking can succeed in finding cheaper access to higher education for our youth in the region to attract companies seeking a strong and educated workforce.
With the Mayor's pronouncement at his State of the City Address I am reminded of the parable of the babies floating down the river in baskets. "A group of people are standing at a river bank and suddenly hear the cries of a baby. Shocked, they see an infant floating--drowning--in the water. One person immediately dives in to rescue the child. But as this is going on, yet another baby comes floating down the river, and then another! People continue to jump in to save the babies. As more and more babies float down the river each day the townspeople rally to the rescue by building a nursery to care for the babies. As the problem worsens, the townspeople decide to build a foster home to house the babies. Next thing you know, the townspeople construct a textile mill to make clothing and diapers for the ever-increasing number of babies floating down the river. An entire economy is created to care for the babies, One day, as the townspeople are fishing the baskets of babies out of the river, one person sets down his basket and starts to walk away from the group still on shore. Accusingly they shout, "Where are you going, we have to save the babies?" The person responds, "I'm going upstream to stop whoever's throwing babies into the river."
In light of "the baby in a basket" parable we must ask ourselves." Are we fixing the education problem for our young people or are we just treating the symptoms?"
As president of the U.S. Council of Mayors a few years ago, and during the Bush regime, the Mayor had control of bully pulpit to speak out as one with mayors of major cities across the country on the lack of federal funding to improve our public infrastructure for our urban centers. The federal government's dismal handling of the Katrina catastrophe proved the Bush Administration's lack of concern for rebuilding our cities. With the opportunity to elect a Democrat in the White House in November this just may be the opportunity for big and medium-sized cities to make their case for a new FDR-styled domestic initiative to rebuild our crumbling bridges, roads, water and sewer systems in America. Leasing the sewer system is an idea that should die with the corporatized big-business Republican Party and timid Democrats who have failed to make their case to their constituency that our priorities have been turned upside down under Bush. The Mayor was a quarterback in high school and college. Why allow the Republican Party to set the goal posts by defining the game plan when the game plan should be thrown out and a "democratic" strategy can be drawn up to fund education? Leasing the sewer system for education is just a band aid and does not address the root problem.
What are the elements of a successful community development issue like the one the Mayor has put forward and how do we, the citizens become involved in making education a part of our own collective responsibility and task as a community? Successful community and economic development initiatives are not solo acts. Collaboration is the key to long term success. The report, "Community Development on Fostering Better Outcomes Through Good Process," notes what is required in putting together a broad-based successfully strategy; 1) it requires advocacy; 2) it meaningfully engages the community and links participatory process together; 3) is supported by many; 4) is not imposed on people; 5) addresses underlying issues such as race, class, culture, and power, and 6) anticipates conflict and works to identify common ground.
The Mayor has set the parameters for discussion very low and with little public input, leaving no room for an honest dialogue, while leaving out many of the processes listed above for a successful outcome to fund education. The concept of privatizing water and sewer is not unique having been pursued by many members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Republicans' Gary Podesto of Stockton, California, Oscar Goodman of Las Vegas, and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin have pushed the concept and all have failed. Atlanta, after signing into a long term contract with a private company, ended up buying the system back in a couple of years due to the incompetence demonstrated by the private for-profit company, and at a much higher repurchase cost.
The question needs to be asked;
Is the proposal to fund education or to eliminate an aging sewer system with a $400 million combined sewer environmental problem the city is expected to repair? Federal EPA mandates without funds to solve the dilemma are making it harder and harder for cities to carry out basic governmental functions. This is one of many questions that need to asked.
Any suburb in Summit County that pumps its waste to the Akron sewer plant should have cause for concern if the proposed lease to a for-profit entity becomes a reality. I suspect it will be they who experience an increase in sewer rates to fund the education initiative for Akron students. There are regional approaches that must be studied to benefit middle and lower-income students throughout Summit County (lower-income students were left out of the Mayor's proposal). Expand the pool. If Akron University relied solely on Akron students for higher education the university would have closed long ago. A regional public sewer district should be explored to fund the initiative. All citizens of Summit County have a role to play in ensuring our children have access to higher learning.
Grover Norquist, one of the right-wing neocon architects of the Bush Administration and a proponent of privatizing our military, Social Security and Medicare, school vouchers and deregulation to enhance the private sector's pocketbook, would be proud of the City for turning the sewer system over to a for-profit entity. "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," Norquist has said, adding, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." We must ask ourselves "Is everything in this country for sale, even our democracy?" Only if our citizens allow it.
PDA Ohio believes there are other practical ways to solve the high cost of post-secondary education. Go to www.pdaohio.org to read just one alternative to funding education without privatizing our public assets. Do you have an idea on how we can fund higher education for our high school graduates? Send your ideas to pdaohio@gmail.com and we will post it at our web-site.
