Think Regional/Act Local

How is it that elected officials and staff working for local governments have gotten such a bad rap? They’re greedy. They’ve got exorbitant salaries and benefits. They don’t give a damn about the taxpayer. They are only in it for their own personal gain.

 

Wrong, wrong, wrong! My decades of personal experience at SEMCOG working with literally thousands of local elected officials and local government staff paint a very different picture. The vast majority of elected officials with whom I have had the true pleasure of working are in local government for one reason and one reason only…they want to serve the public. And many of them are working at the pleasure of the voters with token or no salaries.

 

Local government employees exhibit a similar reality. The majority are working for relatively low wages with increasing cuts to their wages and benefits. They want to keep your streets safe, pick up the garbage, conduct efficient and fair elections, promote your communities, and address the needs of your businesses.

 

As taxpayers, we want and deserve a good return in services for our investment in taxes paid. We are asking our local government leaders to provide the same or more services with fewer tax dollars…fewer tax dollars due to declining property values. They are doing a great job cutting expenses with minimal impact on services.

 

Sure, there have been “bad apples” in local government and those receive lots of media coverage. But, let’s not forget the large majority of local government elected officials and staff who work hard every day to provide quality government services to us, giving us value for our tax dollars. Forget the bad rap. We should be thanking our elected officials and staff for jobs well done.

 

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Comparable data from similar-sized local governments are typically used to analyze and benchmark the relative effectiveness of government services across the region. To that end, Southeast Michigan represents the 12th largest region* in the country as indicated in the list below, so we routinely associate and compare ourselves with the other regions our size like Atlanta or Minneapolis. Similarly, Detroit is the 18th largest city in the U.S., but with the shifts in population, we find ourselves among a whole new set of comparable cities as indicated below. Typically, we would not have grouped Detroit with Columbus, OH or Memphis, TN, for example.

 

This new normal for comparing Detroit, however, should not inhibit the city’s potential success, as the list includes several very successful cities with very well run local governments that hopefully will be benchmarked by city officials and the Financial Advisory Board as they strive to stabilize the fiscal situation, improve core services and redevelop the city as spelled out in the recent consent agreement.

 

Also included in the tables below are the surface area and population density for comparable metropolitan regions and cities. The data tends to debunk the theory that Detroit is too large for its population and the region has too much urban sprawl, as we are in the middle of the pack on both lists.

 

Rank	U.S. Metro Area*	Population	Area (sq. mi.)	Pop. Density
8	Miami, FL	5,564,635	1,116	4,986
9	Atlanta	5,268,860	1,962	2,685
10	Boston	4,552,402	1,736	2,622
11	San Fransisco	4,335,391	526	8,242
12	Detroit	4,296,250	1,261	3,407
13	Phoenix	4,192,887	799	5,248
14	Seattle	3,439,809	953	3,609
15	Minneapolis	3,279,833	894	3,669
16	San Diego	3,095,313	782	3,958

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rank	U.S. City	Population	Area (sq. mi.)	Pop. Density
14	Austin, TX	790,390	298	2,652
15	Columbus, OH	787,033	217	3,627
16	Fort Worth, TX	741,206	340	180
17	Charlotte, NC	731,424	298	2,454
18	Detroit, MI	713,777	139	5,135
19	El Paso, TX	649,121	255	2,546
20	Memphis, TN	646,889	315	2,054
21	Baltimore, MD	620,961	81	7,666
22	Boston, MA	617,594	48	12,867

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For no-cost assistance in dealing with your community’s fiscal challenges, contact Dave Boerger, SEMCOG Local Government Effectiveness.

 

*Based on the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) definition of Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

 

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