News summaries
Privatize This!
Wall Street firms planned to pump billions into infrastructure. A lot of them hit
roadblocks.
Business Week
WI: Mil. county exec winning in privatization battle
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is winning his privatization
battle by flexing his emergency budget authority, accomplishing by fiat
what the County Board rejected in the past. The first instance was his
decision Friday to lay off the 27 county security guards at the courthouse
complex and two other county buildings and replace them with lower-paid
employees from a private firm. The board refused to go along with that as
part of the 2010 budget approved in November, citing safety concerns...
Walker says he's prepared to continue on that path. "Nothing's off the
table," Walker said, when asked what other steps he might take to balance the
county budget. "Clearly, the biggest savings for us is when we can contract
out for services.".. In the past, Walker has lost fights with the
County Board for more outsourcing of park workers, mental health case
workers, airport firefighters and others.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
CA: California students protest fees
University of California students take to the streets on Thursday to
protest fee hikes, campus racism, and what they call privatization of
the public system that was a beacon for the state in the 1960s.
Reuters
IN: Indianapolis seeks ideas for public-private partnerships
You may recall the KFC deal: Indy Parks is getting free fire
extinguishers in exchange for putting the KFC logo on them. Look for
more such deals down the road. "What if a firm were to underwrite the
cost of salting city streets?" said Sean Smith, Third Street Partners,
which makes a 15-percent commission only when a deal is reached. The
city hired Sean Smith to help pursue corporate and non-profit
partnerships. Part of that includes "Indy Ideas." It's an online
suggestion box launched last fall aimed at getting the public involved.
"We've received over 50 ideas," said Michael Huber, Office of
Enterprise Development. The city's Michael Huber says some are being
seriously explored.
WTHR
AZ: Closing of highway rest stops stirs anger in state
Arizona has the largest budget gap in the country when measured as a
percentage of its overall budget, and the Department of Transportation
was $100 million in the hole last fall when it decided to close 13 of
the state’s 18 highway rest stops....“People in this state are mad
about this,” said State Representative Daniel Patterson, a Democrat
from Tucson who has sponsored a bill that would allow other entities to
reopen and maintain the rest stops. “This bill may have the broadest
support among members of any bill this year.” Mr. Patterson’s bill,
which is supported by a majority of legislators, Republicans and
Democrats, would allow local governments, American Indian tribes and
private groups to pay to keep the rest stops open. The problem is that
most localities in the state are broke, too. Further, federal law
prohibits states (including Arizona) with Interstates built after 1956
from privatizing or commercializing their rest areas. “This bill
doesn’t really give us any new tools,” Mr. Biesty said. Gov. Jan
Brewer, a Republican, wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last
month asking that the restriction be rescinded to allow the state more
flexibility.
The New York Times
TX: El Paso county privatizing foster care
When it comes to foster care, El Paso County is unlike any others in
the state. It contracts out foster care with eight different placement
agencies in the county. Several years ago administrators thought this
would be a good way of saving taxpayer money. The private agencies
place the children in the foster homes and will also do the work of
caseworkers. About 500 kids go through the foster care system each
month in El Paso County. The county pays the placement agencies a
contract fee and the agency then finds qualified foster families to
take care of children who have been removed from a home.
KRDO
