Executive Fiala Pleased Broome Included in State Commission's Consolidation Initiatives
BINGHAMTON, NY - Broome County Executive Barbara J. Fiala says she is pleased the state has included Broome's 7 initiatives in its statewide effort to aid local governments study and in some cases accomplish actual consolidation.
Fiala was in Albany on Thursday at the New York State Association of Counties meetings when the list of initiatives was announced by Spitzer's Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness. Broome submitted seven initiatives for consideration and all seven initiatives were accepted. They include:
Consolidated Metropolitan Police Force
Consolidated Court System
Highway & Maintenance Consolidation
Parks Consolidation
Health Insurance Shared Service and Consolidation
Village Dissolution
School Consolidation
Executive Fiala says it is important for the State to play an active role in the consolidation process and she informed the commission that without the state's ability to offer “carrots and 'hammers'” in order to convince some municipalities to come to the table, there will be little progress in local consolidation efforts.
The state plans to provide technical assistance to communities looking to move their initiatives forward. Executive Fiala encouraged them to also provide more easily accessible funding to communities wishing to conduct studies for their consolidation initiatives.
The LGEC was formed by Governor Spitzer in April to study and evaluate efficiencies, performance and shared services. The bi-partisan commission is composed of 15 members who have a high level of experience within different levels of government and all most all have held or currently hold public office. In conjunction with the creation of the LGEC the Governor called upon counties to evaluate their service provisions and efficiencies to determine areas that could be consolidated for greater cost savings and improved service.
On Friday, Executive Fiala also praised the State Supreme Court ruling issued on Thursday which validated the disputed signatures in the Johnson City Village dissolution petition effort. “The discussion should be allowed to move forward when so many people exercised their civic right to petition and it would be unfortunate for the process to be stopped on a technicality,” said Fiala. She encouraged the village to simply study the issue and determine if indeed there would be any benefits to dissolving the village. In the end she says, “It will be up to the voters of Johnson City.”
Older Press Releases are online for archival purposes only. If you need updated information regarding items contained in these press releases please call or email the contact person listed for the release. Thank you.
Published Date: 09-24-2007
