Coming to nearby suburb! Allen Pk outsourcing Police & Fire

[Zacha341]

Allen Park Council Votes to Outsource Police and Fire

From article: Allen Park City Council passed a balanced budget Tuesday, but to do that they had to vote to eliminate the police and fire departments. Residents are stunned.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...re-20120522-ms

[Wesley Mouch]

Allen Park Council Votes to Outsource Police and Fire

From article: Allen Park City Council passed a balanced budget Tuesday, but to do that they had to vote to eliminate the police and fire departments. Residents are stunned.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...re-20120522-ms

As a Hamtramckant, I really appreciate how much the police department helps maintain a sense of civic cohesion. Allen Park has long been proud of being a very successful, well-run city. Others should watch this and keep their government out of the business of business. When a business goes bankrupt -- the owners lose their money and the employees lose their jobs. When a city goes bankrupty -- well, the same thing might just happen.

[Danny]

I have a better ideal. Dissolve the City of Allen Park and its city council and annex it to Lincoln Park.

[corktownyuppie]

I have a better ideal. Dissolve the City of Allen Park and its city council and annex it to Lincoln Park.

I say go even further, double down on Danny's idea, and merge services all around SE Michigan. There is no need for us to have 45+ different entities duplicating effort. I also have no problem with subcontracting public safety [[fire and police) of some Detroit neighborhoods to the municipal entities they border.

[313WX]

I say go even further, double down on Danny's idea, and merge services all around SE Michigan. There is no need for us to have 45+ different entities duplicating effort.

Agreed.

In fact, I'm going to triple down on your an DAnny's idea and say we dissolve all the municipalities around Detroit, merge all of them into one municipality name it "Detroit." each portion of Detroit will have its own representation to form a mega city council, similar to what the city proper has now. In fact, I would form a system similar to New York's, where Detroit is divided into burroughs [[aptly named WAyne, Washtenaw, OAkland, MAcomb) with each burrough having its own president [[County executives) while electing an at-large Mayor.

That would in effect make Detroit the 2nd largest city in the country, which means more national influence, and due to the adjustment in the commuting patterns, it would likely bump the metro area's population number up into the top 5.

[Wesley Mouch]

Agreed.

In fact, I'm going to triple down on your an DAnny's idea and say we dissolve all the municipalities around Detroit, merge all of them into one municipality name it "Detroit." each portion of Detroit will have its own representation to form a mega city council, similar to what the city proper has now. In fact, I would form a system similar to New York's, where Detroit is divided into burroughs [[aptly named WAyne, Washtenaw, OAkland, MAcomb) with each burrough having its own president [[County executives) while electing an at-large Mayor.

That would in effect make Detroit the 2nd largest city in the country, which means more national influence, and due to the adjustment in the commuting patterns, it would likely bump the metro area's population number up into the top 5.

I 4th the motion.

Municipalities are an outdated concept -- intended for the days when each municipality was a little town -- a mile or two from the next.

[Ray1936]

Agreed.

In fact, I would form a system similar to New York's, where Detroit is divided into burroughs [[aptly named WAyne, Washtenaw, OAkland, MAcomb) with each burrough having its own president [[County executives) while electing an at-large Mayor.

You didn't go far enough. The boroughs would be named Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland, Macomb, and Essex.

[AGinthe313]

A combined Downriver police force and fire department [[Trenton, Riverview, Taylor, Southgate, etc.), they would save a boat-load in redundant costs.

[313WX]

You didn't go far enough. The boroughs would be named Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland, Macomb, and Essex.

Only problem is essex is in a different country.

[Johnnny5]

Allen Park Council Votes to Outsource Police and Fire

From article: Allen Park City Council passed a balanced budget Tuesday, but to do that they had to vote to eliminate the police and fire departments. Residents are stunned.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...re-20120522-ms

It's important to remember that Allen Park would not be in this mess if not for their all in bet on the Unity Studios property [[As if we needed more proof proof that Michigan did anything but benefit from Lansing's gifts to Hollywood).

Viewing this from the outside it seems extremely likely that it was more than just complete incompetence that led to this fiasco. I am honestly shocked that there have not been charges brought up against some of those involved.

[jj84]

A combined Downriver police force and fire department [[Trenton, Riverview, Taylor, Southgate, etc.), they would save a boat-load in redundant costs.

The Unions / Cities / Residents go back and forth on it all the time and it's never going to happen - it was talked about years ago. You get into the whole issue of newer cities being liable for older city Pension Costs, operate departments different etc.

[Lowell]

I say go even further, double down on Danny's idea, and merge services all around SE Michigan. There is no need for us to have 45+ different entities duplicating effort. I also have no problem with subcontracting public safety [[fire and police) of some Detroit neighborhoods to the municipal entities they border.

I am for metropolitan union on basics services starting with public safety. The savings could be immense. The bureacratic resistance to this will immense as it would result in a lot of desk-ridden 'chiefs' and their underlings being put back on the line.

[corktownyuppie]

The Unions / Cities / Residents go back and forth on it all the time and it's never going to happen - it was talked about years ago. You get into the whole issue of newer cities being liable for older city Pension Costs, operate departments different etc.

True, but that was then and this now. The municipal budget shortages are so severe that a lot of entities are going to be forced to swallow their pride and let go of power in order to survive.

As for the issue of newer cities being liable for older city pension costs, it's a complicated one. But the bottom line is that one can negotiate all of that in the process. The key distinction is now you're forcing cities to jump into bed together and figure out a solution.

Back in the day, 5 cities had 5 heads and 5 fire departments, and no one needed to cooperate, so no one ever did. Well, welcome to 2012. All bets are off, and we all need each other.

I, for one, am glad to see it finally come to this point. This is exactly the environment that will force cities to make decisions which may be politically unpopular but better for everyone in the long run.

[canuck]

It's important to remember that Allen Park would not be in this mess if not for their all in bet on the Unity Studios property [[As if we needed more proof proof that Michigan did anything but benefit from Lansing's gifts to Hollywood).

Viewing this from the outside it seems extremely likely that it was more than just complete incompetence that led to this fiasco. I am honestly shocked that there have not been charges brought up against some of those involved.

Well to be fair, the city administration bet the so-called Lansing largesse would continue into the future. The idea of fostering growth in a major cultural and industrial sector for Michigan was short lived unfortunately. When they built this studio and refurbished other industrial spaces for shooting movies and series, the benefits were felt by more than a few players as you seem to suggest.

Anyways, this depletion of municipal services shows how inevitable some form of metropolitan government would serve the greater good of the region. If you had representatives for a 4 or 5 million population metro to devise a new transit scheme, planning on a macro level, the clout would be incredible. You could compete with Chicago budgetwise, and demand more from higher levels of govt. The inherent weakness of Metro Detroit is the lack of a metro sensibility.

The status quo implies the city and burbs will continue the infighting and contribute to further demise. Any attempt at collaboration, even compromise is better than the status quo. There are plenty of smaller metros in the world with efficient communication channels in spite of the fact that suburban towns and core cities compete for company HQ's, related industrial sector jobs and manufacturing. I think competition among cities alone cannot yield good results for SEM.

[drjeff]

Since the AP police seem to spend all of their time handing out speeding tickets, I'm not sure how this will affect quality of life.

[DetroitPlanner]

I am for metropolitan union on basics services starting with public safety. The savings could be immense. The bureacratic resistance to this will immense as it would result in a lot of desk-ridden 'chiefs' and their underlings being put back on the line.

Actually since these are mostly appointed positions, the main beauracratic animal would be the elected Mayors and the councils. I don't think many mayors or councils want to be in charge of broke cities.


drjeff, someone needs to keep speeders in check on the Southfield!

[Bham1982]

That would in effect make Detroit the 2nd largest city in the country, which means more national influence, and due to the adjustment in the commuting patterns, it would likely bump the metro area's population number up into the top 5.

Except for the fact that the consolidation would lead to half of suburbanites moving somewhere else. Livingston County would boom like Dubai.

[jackie5275]

I have a better ideal. Dissolve the City of Allen Park and its city council and annex it to Lincoln Park.

Then it would just turn into a dump, & Lincoln Park would be a bigger dump.

[jackie5275]

Only problem is essex is in a different country.

That's no problem. The area that's the city proper now can be renamed Essex as a borough.

[jt1]

Except for the fact that the consolidation would lead to half of suburbanites moving somewhere else. Livingston County would boom like Dubai.

Thanks for summing up everything that is wrong with this region in a very short, concise post.

[Wesley Mouch]

A combined Downriver police force and fire department [[Trenton, Riverview, Taylor, Southgate, etc.), they would save a boat-load in redundant costs.

Very true. Would be nice if the savings would 'trickle down' to the taxpayers, but the corporations, I mean government, will keep all the money and spend it wisely.

[Novine]

Sorry but Allen Park is an outlier. 99% of the communities that have made it this far without consolidation probably won't go down that route in the future. The last few years forced through a fair amount of downsizing and consolidation. But if it hasn't happened yet, I doubt we'll see in in the next few years.

[canuck]

You could even have a system where cities keep their administrations and yet contribute to the metropolitan pot. 55% of my island suburb tax account goes to Montreal's urban community for services such as transit, EMS, the Montreal Fire Department and the Montreal Police. Contributions to cultural institutions are also paid to the urban community even as we pay for our own libraries sports and cultural centers etc...

I think corporate sponsors are more eager to provide relief on cultural amenities if a bigger pool of cities and boroughs are consolidated.

Older cities and districts that are now merged have become boroughs. They have individual mayors administering revenue from municipal taxes and parking fees, and decide how to spend for certain services like snow removal and new equipment like libraries. Transit is taken care of by the island's transit authority [[STM) but also by a regional authority that manages the suburban rail system and whose mandate is planning for the greater Montreal region.

[1953]

I say merge 'em all into Detroit city and help us regain our spot on the national weather forecasts [[they can't ignore a city with 5 million people)!

[canuck]

You'd have twice the population of an unmerged Chitown.