Plea to overhaul local government hits Legislature

Around the state, people have been attending meetings and hearings to discuss how to redesign government. The goal is to change the way services are provided so they cost less and also, in the best of all worlds, are more effective as well. Over the past year, these meetings have been held in city halls, churches, VFWs and hotels.

On Tuesday, it was time for members of the House State Government Finance committee to get a peek at what all those confabs have wrought. "This year we widened the invite and brought in all kinds of voices about how we as a state can be on the cutting edge again of innovation and delivery of services," said Rep. Diane Loeffler, D-Minneapolis, who has championed the redesign effort with Rep. Carol McFarlane, R-White Bear Lake, and others.

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Specifically, the legislators began working with the so-called "big three," meaning the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities and the Minnesota School Boards Association, along with various private foundations. Recently, hundreds of people from the city, county and school realms came together for a series of regional meetings to discuss innovation and ways they might work together. "I was pleased at the fact that it was a non-partisan, open-minded discussion that happened," McFarlane told the committee. "Not all redesign needs legislation."

The League of Minnesota Cities held its own series of meetings around the state this year. And according to executive director Jim Miller, "One common theme I see regardless of time or location (is that) people on the ground, people in our cities and counties and school districts are completely and irrevocably committed to trying to make their communities a better place. The resolve is greater than it has ever been."

Miller went on to note that whether libraries or police coverage, "There is an attachment to those services." People don't so much want to lose services as rethink how they are provided. "It no longer makes sense to have police services that are more costly if the only outcome is that the ID on the squad car is from that community," Miller said.

"Redesign is a goal we all have, but it can be remarkably difficult to achieve," said Jeff Spartz, executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties. "In many respects we're still taking the first steps toward redesign." He suggested that government entities need to find the "openness to look beyond boundaries" and that leaders need to be careful to make sure new ideas filter down to the employees responsible for doing the work. "We need to develop a culture of innovation," he said.

Some of the discussion revolved around the greater discussion itself, specifically its duration. Rep. Keith Downey (R-Edina) said, "I'm encouraged but also frustrated. " He pulled out a 1995 report commissioned by then-Gov. Arne Carlson that suggested the state needed to change the way it does business. Many of the particulars mirrored those being discussed yesterday. "My question is, apart from just flat out not funding what you're doing, how do we catalyze this and make real?"

Miller responded that it's important to recognize that, "What we're talking about isn't anything new. It's not as though we woke up this summer and thought, 'How do we provide services better?' There are literally thousands of examples of collaboration."

Later in the hearing, officials from Austin, Beltrami County and the Mahtomedi School Board would, in fact, describe myriad collaborations and innovations taking place in their communities. Mahtomedi schools have a lab in partnership with MIT. Austin shares a law enforcement center with Mower County. Beltrami County has begun to measure success by outcomes.

Miller continued, "How do we move forward so we're not having this conversation 10 years from now? It's not any one thing. But the partnership between state and local government has eroded significantly." He said that every year, the League is asked by the Legislature to bring forward a list of mandates that if eliminated or relieved would save money and spur innovation. "Year after year, what happens is not much changes at the end of the session," he said. "If we are going to be able to be as effective as we can at redesigning government...you have to give local officials the flexibility to make decisions at the local level."

Spartz added that the public is much more engaged in the effort than they were in 1995 and that makes a difference. "They understand that this is not a cyclical problem, but a permanent problem," he said. "I think the public is there now and opportunities will present themselves much more rapidly."

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