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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > January > 27
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Guest column: Consolidation will require ‘action plan,’ citizen input
This commentary was written by Mike Kelly, former city manager of Oakwood.
The Dayton Daily News and individuals in the community often suggest that thinking regionally is one important way local officials can assure government services are delivered competently and efficiently.
I agree, but I worry that many citizens are wary of regionalism — or even confused about what regionalism could mean. An “action plan” could bring the concept to life and be a starting point to involve taxpayers in the discussion.
Here are some suggestions:
• Take inventory. Dayton’s suburbs have benefited from regional governance for years. Examples include the RTA, the Miami Valley Communication Council, a tactical crime suppression unit, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, the tax-sharing program called ED/GE, the Miami Conservancy District, the Austin Pike Co-op, Five Rivers MetroParks and the Miami Valley Planning Commission.
There are other instances. And there are areas where we’ve fallen short.
• Evaluate success and failures. Having taken inventory, we need to say what has worked, what hasn’t, and why. We must identify the common denominators behind successful efforts and be honest and knowledgeable enough about where we’ve failed to avoid repeating that history.
• Know the research. There are myriad studies of local government. Some are directly applicable to Ohio and metropolitan areas such as ours. Much of the research has similar conclusions — overlap, duplication and redundancy remain the rule. We have to know the literature and to extract recommendations that fit us.
• Reveal preliminary findings. A real action plan requires very public and straightforward presentations — not just with local government and business types, but with taxpayers. This stage is vital.
• “Ideate.” Another key planning component would be engaging public officials and citizens alike in a series of thoughtfully facilitated public work sessions. Why include citizens again? Because now we may be talking about the possibility of fundamental change in local government — their government. Moreover, who is to say that the citizens won’t have better ideas than their elected or appointed officials?
• Translate. One can visualize a range of suggestions that might prove easy to implement. A complete list would include hard options, too, including “remodeling” governments through legislation, charter changes, council of government contracts or actual restructuring.
• Staffing. This sort of effort would require staffing. There are talented staff available within the public and private sectors.
• Name champions. Nothing will happen without community champions willing to consider a variety of ways to streamline, regionalize or even consolidate local governments.
• Have deadlines. Without them, change seldom happens.
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Editorial: How best to save Wilberforce?
The leaders of the faculty union at Wilberforce University blame the school’s leaders for some of its money and enrollment problems. But Patricia Hardaway is the third consecutive president whom the faculty have taken out after. And she has a substantially different approach than her predecessor, Floyd Flake. Less flamboyant, less political, less storied, more engaged.
After a while, if problems continue, the possibility must be faced that those problems are bigger than any one individual or even any leadership team.
Though enrollment was circling around 800 at the turn of the century, it’s below 600 now. Only about 150 freshmen started last fall. (Typically, the freshman class should be bigger than the others.) The school’s adult program, CLIMB (Credentials for Leadership in Management and Business), has shrunk.
Paychecks have been delayed. Benefits have been cut. Deficits have been rung up.
President Hardaway says that cutbacks had to be made to secure the future of the school; it had to be “right-sized.” She notes that the enrollment drop has leveled off. She doesn’t promise enrollment will rise, but she’s hopeful that it will, at least slowly.
But nobody should be surprised that Wilberforce is having problems. Historically black colleges derive from a time when black students were unwelcome at other schools. Now other schools are trying hard to increase their diversity.
And many of them can offer more — more programs, better facilities, a higher profile, more extracurriculars.
Meanwhile, Wilberforce is right across the road from another historically black college. And Central State University, which grew out of Wilberforce, is a public school, with the advantages (and disadvantages).
Both are relatively isolated out in the country, as opposed to being in major black population centers with the attractions of a big city. And both have had their problems.
Some people who look at their situations from the outside wonder if the two schools should be merged, in the hope of saving one or both. Others suggest that a better bet is for Central State to partner with other public schools and for Wilberforce to look to other private schools.
One scenario has the Wilberforce name continuing to exist as a college within another university.
A lot of people believe that historically black colleges still ought to be available. Many students are obviously still interested in the environment they provide. And the colleges can focus on the specific needs of black communities, while sustaining traditions that are meaningful to a community of alumni and being a repository of important history.
Wilberforce is tied to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which provides about a half-million dollars a year to the university. There’s pride and a sense of differentness from Central, not to mention from mainly white private schools.
Moreover, merger would not be a simple matter. Wilberforce has $24 million in debt that the state would not assume. So there might have to be some sort of bankruptcy proceedings.
Meanwhile, as advocates of Wilberforce point out, the school isn’t asking for any state bailout.
Though many observers are skeptical, Wilberforce still might be able to stabilize its situation. Maybe things will even improve as the economy improves.
But the school is on a precipice. Its problems can feed on themselves, as prospective students and faculty become wary.
If the market for historically black schools isn’t what it used to be, that will affect not only enrollment numbers, but the number of schools that survive.
Wilberforce has a distinguished history and continues to be an asset both to the Dayton community and to black families around the Midwest and beyond. If it can thrive as an independent institution, great. If not, options have to be explored that nobody loves.
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