Onondaga County has 177 drainage districts, 188 street-lighting districts, 35 fire- protection districts and 20 garbage districts.
That’s too much government repetition, says Joanie Mahoney, the Republican candidate for Onondaga County executive. She joins a long-standing but so far unsuccessful group of advocates for government consolidation.
“We can do more with less,” as Mahoney put it in a recent interview.
In her “Opportunity Agenda, Part 1,” unveiled in mid-October, Mahoney called for widespread government modernization in the county. Her plan focuses on cutting what she describes as wasteful spending and for combining resources across cities, towns and villages so services and government run more smoothly.
“I’m going to find places where we can work together,” Mahoney told The Post-Standard. “We are overtaxed because we have too many layers of government, too many agencies.”
But experts say they have been calling for consolidation in Onondaga County for years and it’s not easy to implement
One expert, Clyde Ohl, describes Mahoney’s plan as too basic. Ohl was mayor and town supervisor of Camillus and a county legislator. He is working with the Onondaga Citizens League, Syracuse 20/20 and the Syracuse League of Women Voters to develop a power point presentation to convince voters to support government modernization and consolidation.
Ohl dismisses the current crop of consolidation plans, including Mahoney’s. “Anything you read right now will be a glittering generality,” said Ohl. “It will sound good, but it won’t mean anything.”
Mahoney’s plan includes the following proposals:
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Focus on cooperation in park maintenance, street cleaning, sewer, water service, plowing, trash pickup, information technology, assessment and legal services.
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Set up a program that tracks spending and identifies areas where money can be saved.
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Work with Syracuse University and business leaders to make sure government runs more smoothly.
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Visit cities like Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn., which have similar programs, for ideas on successful consolidation.
But that’s not enough, warns, Ohl, the former Camillus town supervisor working on a consolidation proposal. The hard part will be trying to sell consolidation to local government leaders. “Government leaders are not very receptive to consolidating government,” said Ohl.
For example, after reviewing the resources and functions of the village of Camillus, Ohl recommended that it dissolve itself completely. So far, the residents and leaders of the village have not been receptive. “It’s about turf,” he said. “Local town supervisors love their jobs and don’t see any advantage for them to consolidate.”
For her part, Mahoney downplays the prospect of county employees losing their jobs under her consolidation plans. She is not looking to fire anybody, she said in a recent phone interview. But, she said, about 30 percent of county employees are set to retire in the next five years.
“I’m certainly not looking for wholesale layoffs,” said Mahoney. But potential number of retirements, she said, “creates an opportunity.”
(Andrew Restuccia is a senior newspaper and religion and society major.)
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