World's first "crowd sourced" public policy initiative
Sunday 27 January 2013
Refocus on Grading Civic Performance
Each town and city within Manitoba has its own character, opportunities. challenges, and history.
It is time to re-examine the rights and responsibilities of civic
governments so that they better match ability, and sometimes constrain
their irrational exuberance.
To explain this topic, lets try and be just a little bit honest with each other for a moment. We all might have certain expectations of a government but whatever our ideologies might be, we are generally happier if the economy is active and most folks have jobs and income to look after themselves and their families. From a government perspective, happy citizens are good but better still if they are working and paying taxes that politicians can spend. Because a vibrant economy is so important,it should not be unreasonable to expect government to keep its eye on development. Of course there are some things that the Province can do directly but that is not what this topic is about. Instead, what we are talking about here is encouraging the various municipalities to play an active role in the situation.
Some do a much better job than others. Winnipeg, the capital city, with its massive taxation base, is gradually becoming a burden rather than an engine of growth. Let us be clear. Winnipeg may be experiencing marginal growth but it is not improving at the anywhere near same rate as other Canadian urban centres nor is it even keeping pace with more progressive rural entities like. Morden Winkler and Steinbach.
Evaluating economic performance is not a static exercise. It demands relative analysis of the dynamic momentum of each competitor. And again let’s be honest, like it or not, cities really are competitors against each other. It is like comparing riders on an escalator or a moving sidewalk. Even a corpse can be moving but some that are making a little effort on their own are moving proportionately faster than others. Some days even a corpse would be doing better than Winnipeg because at least a corpse does not clog up the system or try and move backwards.
Looking at Calgary, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Tononto, Kitchener etc., Winnipeg’ leaves a lot to be desired. It is not about the size of a city, it is about private sector growth and the environment that encourages or discourages growth. Winnipeger's should expect better. Ignoring growth while increasing taxes and more punitive fees should be raising flags all over the place. Go to the next comment for more.
In the past the Province has quietly bemoaned the ineffectiveness of urban planners but generally their actions aside from a little hand wringing over failures, constitute nothing but lip service. What the Province has been forced to do however is shore up the downtown core with very expensive largesse, notably Hydro, Portage Place, University of Winnipeg and the Forks. Many of these band-aids draw on scarce federal infrastructiure funds which are desperately needed for …..wait for this …real infrastructure. Some of these efforts can be justified because Winnipeg residents are Provincial residents as well and deserve at least a minimum of support, yet the senior governments actions have had the clear effect of sanctioning and enabling the City's bad behaviour.
Manitoba United proposes a different approach. A behaviour modification approach; one that has minimal financial implications and one that would be familiar to most parents. The problem is not the residents. It is the municipal behaviour and should be attacked as such.
Manitoba United believes the Province should develop a report card annually ranking each municipality’s self help and wellness efforts. This is not a new idea. The concept emerged almost 40 years ago when southern states like Georgia, faced with the loss of economic activity decided to produce a public rating of their performance and readiness. This public report (and predictable public outrage at the results) productively and properly focused the efforts of officials both elected and appointed. Being public it also allowed the average voter to see how his government was doing. Those states became more competitive and as we all know much of the rust belt moved north.
The report by itself may not be enough to break the cycle. The Province must do two more things. First they should link the improved report results to a sliding scale of directly proportionate cultural, recreational and tripartite agreement funding, thereby rewarding the energetic and denying the indolent. It is worth noting that public sector projects like the Human Rights Museum or schools or hospitals really do not count as economic development. The report marks mostly the environment for development but an improved environment usually means better performance of private sector investment, taxable real estate and new job creation which is where we should be going.
That would be a strong and very visible incentive but there is one more element which might be helpful to disrupt the most odious practices. Manitoba United believes that the Province could also identify a sliding scale whereby municipalities would exchange improved acceptance of responsibility for increased authority and autonomy.
Aside from some people screaming “blue murder” let us look at the potential consequences. Places like Winkler might be allowed to municipally nominate judges, to collect and keep portions of the gas tax or to expand boundaries. The reverse should also be true. Winnipeg could be denied statute authority to impose some of the most disgusting forms of administration, photo radar thievery, parking piranha, business tax etc. Continuing on, to be realistic, pulling off these kind of radical actions, although perhaps desirable may be quite difficult. On the other hand, like any parent seeking to achieve behavioural modification in their child, these kind of incentives and punishments are everyday facts of life. This is a natural approach to encourage positive change because it comes from everyday life experience. Most of the time those pressures do work even if only threatened but beware – “don’t bark unless you are prepared to bite”.
To explain this topic, lets try and be just a little bit honest with each other for a moment. We all might have certain expectations of a government but whatever our ideologies might be, we are generally happier if the economy is active and most folks have jobs and income to look after themselves and their families. From a government perspective, happy citizens are good but better still if they are working and paying taxes that politicians can spend. Because a vibrant economy is so important,it should not be unreasonable to expect government to keep its eye on development. Of course there are some things that the Province can do directly but that is not what this topic is about. Instead, what we are talking about here is encouraging the various municipalities to play an active role in the situation.
ReplyDeleteSome do a much better job than others. Winnipeg, the capital city, with its massive taxation base, is gradually becoming a burden rather than an engine of growth. Let us be clear. Winnipeg may be experiencing marginal growth but it is not improving at the anywhere near same rate as other Canadian urban centres nor is it even keeping pace with more progressive rural entities like. Morden Winkler and Steinbach.
Evaluating economic performance is not a static exercise. It demands relative analysis of the dynamic momentum of each competitor. And again let’s be honest, like it or not, cities really are competitors against each other. It is like comparing riders on an escalator or a moving sidewalk. Even a corpse can be moving but some that are making a little effort on their own are moving proportionately faster than others. Some days even a corpse would be doing better than Winnipeg because at least a corpse does not clog up the system or try and move backwards.
Looking at Calgary, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Tononto, Kitchener etc., Winnipeg’ leaves a lot to be desired. It is not about the size of a city, it is about private sector growth and the environment that encourages or discourages growth. Winnipeger's should expect better. Ignoring growth while increasing taxes and more punitive fees should be raising flags all over the place. Go to the next comment for more.
In the past the Province has quietly bemoaned the ineffectiveness of urban planners but generally their actions aside from a little hand wringing over failures, constitute nothing but lip service. What the Province has been forced to do however is shore up the downtown core with very expensive largesse, notably Hydro, Portage Place, University of Winnipeg and the Forks. Many of these band-aids draw on scarce federal infrastructiure funds which are desperately needed for …..wait for this …real infrastructure. Some of these efforts can be justified because Winnipeg residents are Provincial residents as well and deserve at least a minimum of support, yet the senior governments actions have had the clear effect of sanctioning and enabling the City's bad behaviour.
ReplyDeleteManitoba United proposes a different approach. A behaviour modification approach; one that has minimal financial implications and one that would be familiar to most parents. The problem is not the residents. It is the municipal behaviour and should be attacked as such.
Manitoba United believes the Province should develop a report card annually ranking each municipality’s self help and wellness efforts. This is not a new idea. The concept emerged almost 40 years ago when southern states like Georgia, faced with the loss of economic activity decided to produce a public rating of their performance and readiness. This public report (and predictable public outrage at the results) productively and properly focused the efforts of officials both elected and appointed. Being public it also allowed the average voter to see how his government was doing. Those states became more competitive and as we all know much of the rust belt moved north.
The report by itself may not be enough to break the cycle. The Province must do two more things. First they should link the improved report results to a sliding scale of directly proportionate cultural, recreational and tripartite agreement funding, thereby rewarding the energetic and denying the indolent. It is worth noting that public sector projects like the Human Rights Museum or schools or hospitals really do not count as economic development. The report marks mostly the environment for development but an improved environment usually means better performance of private sector investment, taxable real estate and new job creation which is where we should be going.
That would be a strong and very visible incentive but there is one more element which might be helpful to disrupt the most odious practices. Manitoba United believes that the Province could also identify a sliding scale whereby municipalities would exchange improved acceptance of responsibility for increased authority and autonomy.
Aside from some people screaming “blue murder” let us look at the potential consequences. Places like Winkler might be allowed to municipally nominate judges, to collect and keep portions of the gas tax or to expand boundaries. The reverse should also be true. Winnipeg could be denied statute authority to impose some of the most disgusting forms of administration, photo radar thievery, parking piranha, business tax etc.
Continuing on, to be realistic, pulling off these kind of radical actions, although perhaps desirable may be quite difficult. On the other hand, like any parent seeking to achieve behavioural modification in their child, these kind of incentives and punishments are everyday facts of life. This is a natural approach to encourage positive change because it comes from everyday life experience. Most of the time those pressures do work even if only threatened but beware – “don’t bark unless you are prepared to bite”.