Thursday, January 25, 2007
Merger Accomplished?
Wow, after a few years of bickering and stalling it looks like the City and the County will finally begin joint purchasing of goods. The next time one of the region’s officials or study groups propose an entire City-County merger, remember this chapter as an illustration of how difficult it is to get government functions merged.
With this pact in place, the City expects to save $1 million annually from the $10 million it spends on goods and services. Not an earth-shattering amount, to be certain, but a step nonetheless.
Recall that what held up the merger in 2005 was that the City was basically concerned about losing control and, in all reality, the jobs for people employed in purchasing. Well, those folks will still keep their jobs and the City and the County will “really” explore doing something bigger in 2008. It defies logic as to why the City needs to continue buying goods in house. There can be no other reason but to protect a few jobs.
That makes us wonder why this is really being labeled a merger at all.
With this pact in place, the City expects to save $1 million annually from the $10 million it spends on goods and services. Not an earth-shattering amount, to be certain, but a step nonetheless.
Recall that what held up the merger in 2005 was that the City was basically concerned about losing control and, in all reality, the jobs for people employed in purchasing. Well, those folks will still keep their jobs and the City and the County will “really” explore doing something bigger in 2008. It defies logic as to why the City needs to continue buying goods in house. There can be no other reason but to protect a few jobs.
That makes us wonder why this is really being labeled a merger at all.
