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TVA privatization proposal still a live wire. President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget request may be moribund, but one hot-button. proposal buried deep within it appears to be very much alive: Taking a close look at the option of selling off the Tennessee Valley Authority, the government-owned electric utility. The administration has launched a strategic review that’s delving into issues like “de-federalization,” the implications of a change in TVA ownership for economic development and how to deal with the agency’s assets. Federal Times

IL: Illinois Advancing P3 for Illiana Toll Road. Illinois hopes to select a private partner to develop its estimated $1.1 billion share of the proposed Illiana toll road by next fall with the goal of closing on a finance package as soon as early 2015, a top state transportation official said Thursday. Bond Buyer($)

MI: Dianda wants Privatization of Prison Food Services ended. State Representative Scott Dianda (D-Calumet) wrote an open letter today to Acting State Personnel Director Janet McClelland calling for an end to food service privatization in Michigan prisons. Dianda worked across the aisle to get the signatures of 13 other state representatives and three senators attached to the letter, which had bipartisan support.  ABC 10 News NOW

VA: Express lane future is paved with gold…. However, the public–private project contract signed with Transurban Group and Fluor Corp. includes stipulations that could force Virginians to pay the companies if non-toll-paying HOV traffic reach certain thresholds. The threshold is based on a complicated formula comparing the percentage of free HOV traffic to toll-paying drivers. If the HOV traffic reaches the threshold, the state has to pay the companies 70 percent of the toll rate. ..But those details have flown under the radar since the state struck the deal with Transurban and Fluor on the massive I–95 express-lanes project. And those who attended that October meeting in Stafford County likely had no idea about that part of the contract, which is what Farley was alluding to.  The Free Lance-Star

VA: Police Crack Down on Dulles Access Highway “Backtracking”. Police are cracking down on drivers who skip the Dulles Toll Plaza and use the access highway illegally. The access road running parallel to the Dulles Toll Road is supposed to be for people going to the airport. NBC4 Washington

NY: Charter school leaders seek dialogue with de Blasio. Charter school leaders say they’re seeking an open dialogue with New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and hoping he’ll reconsider his proposals to curb their growth and start charging rent to those the city decides can afford it. Newsday

PA: Founder of Agora Cyber Charter School accused of stealing $6.7M. After James D. Marshall Jr. became board president of the Agora Cyber Charter School in 2007, he signed lots of documents for the school. But last week, he told jurors in the $6.7 million fraud trial of school founder Dorothy June Brown that he did not sign a management contract with Ms. Brown’s Cynwyd Group L.L.C. in 2006 — even though his name was on it.  Pittsburgh Post Gazette

LA: Drivers license operations to privatize. The Jindal administration is entering into contracts to privatize some functions of the state Office of Motor Vehicles, including driver’s license renewals. The Advocate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How One State Protects Taxpayers From Privatization Pitfalls. Today, state and federal “sunshine” laws give the public important anticorruption protection, such as open meetings acts, freedom of information acts and civil service regulations that require government decisions to hire or fire be based on facts and merit – not “honest” graft. This December, Massachusetts can celebrate the 20th anniversary of another important sunshine law – the Pacheco-Menard Law. This law protects the state treasury and infrastructure – and the people of Massachusetts – from looting. But critics of the law treat the decision about whether public services or infrastructure should be private or public as if it were a choice of paper or plastic, or a team sport where you cheer on Team Privatization.  Truth-Out

Outsourcing America video. This PR Watch video exposes the privatizers and profiteers selling out our democracy.   YouTube

AZ: Arizona prison horror: “Critically ill” inmates told to “pray” for healing. A new report alleges illegal and deadly mistreatment of Arizona inmates whose medical care the state contracted out to the country’s largest private prison health care provider. The report, released last week by the American Friends Service Committee, a progressive Quaker group, comes as an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Corrections awaits an appeals court ruling over the state’s challenge to its class action status. The ACLU alleges “grossly inadequate” care that creates “grave danger” for inmates, including “critically ill” people who were told to “be patient” or “pray” for healing, or that “it’s all in your head.”  Salon

MI: Detroit picks 2 companies to privatize residential trash service. Nowling said the privatization will affect about 125 city garbage truck drivers. Both companies have agreed to offer jobs to qualified former city drivers at a wage of $17 or $18 an hour. Nowling said the hourly wage is slightly more than they are currently making. Detroit Free Press

NY: CONservancy? Intent to Privatize Washington Square Park. Documents uncovered by Washington Square Park Blog reveal that the Washington Square Park Conservancy founders were coached by members of Community Board 2 and by City Parks Department officials on what to say, and, more importantly perhaps, what not to say before the Board’s two meetings, held within two weeks of each other, which would determine C.B.2 approval or rejection. Board approval opened the door to what amounts to a takeover of the park: the handing over of control of Washington Square Park based on inaccurate and incomplete statements by the Parks Department and the private conservancy members. Washington Square Park

IN: Cincinnati’s Mayor-elect better man than Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. Even before he takes office, he and the newly-elected council agreed that killing a privatization deal for the city’s parking meter assets with Xerox, the same company which now controls Indianapolis’ parking meter assets, was in the best interests of the city. “We feel that we owe it to the voters who elected us to have a clean break with this deal,” Mayor-elect John Cranley said Tuesday. Advance Indiana

IN: Illinois and Indiana seek private firm to build Illiana Expressway. Transportation officials are on the hunt for a private firm to design, build and operate the proposed Illiana Expressway toll road south of Chicago. The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Indiana Department of Transportation have issued requests for qualifications from private firms for their respective portions of the combined 47-mile toll road that, once completed, would connect Interstate 55 in Illinois with I-65 in Indiana. The project is estimated to cost $1.25 billion. Land Line Magazine

VA: Airport wants drivers to stop dodging the Dulles Toll Road. Drivers hopping on the Dulles Access Highway to avoid paying a toll are going to encounter a beefed up police presence, officials announced this week. This campaign is meant to discourage drivers near Dulles International Airport from using the access road when they should be using the Dulles Toll Road, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates the toll road as well as Dulles and Reagan National Airport.  Washington Post (blog)

 

 

 

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Privatize Everything in the Universe? I wrote this song, “Privatize Everything,” back in 2000. The song was meant as political satire, but unfortunately, many of these lyrics have already become reality in recent years, as evidenced by the federal “catch shares” program, the state’s fake “marine protected areas,” the Obama administration’s tentative approval of Frankenfish and the state-federal Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the twin tunnels.  Daily Kos

Congressional fiasco is the lone black mark for the Postal Service – opinion. There have been some misleading articles about the U.S. Postal Service, but few diverge as far from the facts as Bill Borden’s Oct. 31 commentary disparaging the Postal Service and calling for its privatization. He conveniently ignores the fact that delivering the mail is one of the few activities of the federal government that are rooted in the Constitution. My guess is that Mr. Borden takes the rest of that document rather seriously. The Desert Sun

TX: Credit Rating For Texas’ First Public-Private Partnership Toll Road Project In Trouble. When segments five and six of SH 130 opened in October 2012, Rick Perry called it special, and touted the significant achievement of the project as the first public-private partnership in the state.  One year later, the credit rating for the project is at junk status.  Burnt Orange Report

VA: Virginia Supreme Court Saves Toll Roads. Toll roads in Virginia have found themselves in legal limbo since May, but the state’s highest court came to the rescue on October 31. Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge James A. Cales Jr had thrown the industry into chaos with a ruling that found the General Assembly violated the state constitution when it gave the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Elizabeth River Crossings toll road company authority to raise taxes in the form of tolls, which would be taxation without representation. In a 55-page ruling, the Virginia Supreme Court rejected the reasoning of Judge Cales. TheNewspaper.com

OH: Deal to Privatize Parking in Cincinnati Dead. Mayor-elect John Cranley and several of the elected city council members sent a letter to the Port Authority asking that it stop the $85 million deal. The Port Authority finalized the contracts with the vendor. City Council approved the deal, but it was widely opposed. People feared higher rates and longer enforcement. WKRC TV Cincinnati

DC: Harmony charter school seeks to expand to DC; business practices raised questions. The largest charter-school operator in Texas, an organization with a solid academic record but lingering allegations of connections to a controversial Muslim cleric, is seeking to expand to the District next year. Washington Post

 

 

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Privatizing Our Vote: The Ultimate Crime. Ultimately, however, the biggest problem with electronic voting machines is that they violate the core principles of our republic. Whether or not election rigging exists – and my bets are on that it does – the whole idea of privatizing the vote is a crime against our form of government. Think of it this way: the whole purpose of government is to administer the commons, you know, things like parks, healthcare, and roads that we all need in order to survive. And in a democratic republic, voting is the most important part of the commons. That’s because it’s the glue that holds everything else together. It’s how “We, the People,” hold the managers of our commons – our elected leaders – accountable for their actions. Handing the one thing we use to hold everyone else accountable – that is, voting, – over to an institution – a corporation – that is only accountable to its shareholders, is the ultimate crime against democracy. Turthout

OH: Ohio Supreme Court; JobsOhio arguments heard. Oral arguments were presented to the high court yesterday by both sides over the issue of “standing,” or whether a liberal policy group and two Democratic lawmakers had the legal right to challenge Gov. John Kasich’s new privatized development agency in 2011. Why should ProgressOhio, state Sen. Michael Skindell of Cleveland and now-former Rep. Dennis Murray of Sandusky be permitted to challenge the constitutionality of JobsOhio? If they can’t sue, who can? And why is all of this so confusing?  Columbus Dispatch

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TX: Talk of I-35 and SH 130 toll lane swap resurfaces…. “If the inference here is that the TxDOT commission would shift the financial burdens for SH-130 to people who commute daily to Austin to pay for the tolling failures of SH-130, this is yet another example of how our state government is using crony capitalism to bail out private enterprises. “It is curious that this proposal follows on the heels of reports last month that the private owners of SH-130 may not be able to make debt payments in 2014 because actual traffic is well below their initial estimates.   Austin Business Journal (blog)

MI: Detroit elects fix-it CEO as mayor, but his hands could be tied. Mike Duggan, who rescued Detroit’s largest employer for near-insolvency, will be the next Detroit mayor. But the governor’s emergency manager is the real man in charge…. Labor groups in Detroit have “had mixed experiences” with Duggan “over the course of his business career” but “expect him to honor his campaign commitments to protect retirees, resist privatization,… and make Detroit’s economy work for all residents,” said Chris Michalakis, president of the Metro Detroit chapter of the AFL-CIO.  Christian Science Monitor

CT: Bristol Union Protests Outsourcing Plan. Unionized school cafeteria workers turned out in force Wednesday night to protest a plan that would end their jobs and hire a private contractor to run the food service operation. Dressed in green T-shirts and carrying signs reading “Privatization equals corruption,” several dozen Local 2267 members and their supporters showed up at the monthly school board meeting to demonstrate their discontent. Hartford Courant

‘Parade of horribles’ in privatized prisons….In the past 24 months alone, two riots left a guard and inmate dead. Corrections Corporation of America, which runs four Florida prisons, admitted it lied about understaffing an especially violent Idaho lockup. GEO Group Inc., which operates two other prisons in this state, came under fire by the Justice Department for sexual assaults of young offenders in Mississippi…..Yet since 2000, no riots resulted in major damage or serious inmate injuries in Florida’s state-run prisons, none was closed over inmate abuse, and none was investigated by the Justice Department over widespread squalor. Worcester Telegram

 

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INFRASTRUCTURE: Public. Private. Practical? Public-private partnerships have become a trendy way to finance transportation projects. But given the current enthusiasm for them, there’s a basic question that states and localities ought to be asking: Are the deals accomplishing all they claim to?  Governing

Report raises alarm about falling wages, outsourcing at US airports. The outsourcing of airport jobs that once sustained middle-class careers has left many airport workers in jobs characterized by insecurity and low wages, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study released. According to the study, this trend poses problems for workers, the communities surrounding airports and the flying public…..The Labor Center researchers report that many of the outsourced airport workers turn to public assistance to make ends meet, noting that airports are publicly owned –- by cities, counties or separate public port or airport authorities They trace the downward shift in wages for baggage handlers, skycaps, wheelchair/personal assistants, ticket and gate agents, plane fuelers, mechanics and others to airline industry deregulation in the late 1970s.  Phys.Org

New postal union leader promises more aggressive defense of ‘public postal service’…But the 30-year veteran of the Postal Service from Greensboro, N.C., didn’t unseat incumbent Cliff Guffey to have a good time. Dimondstein did it to protect union members from what he sees as the creeping privatization of postal services and to give the workers a union leadership that more aggressively defends their interests as management tries to dig out of an ever-sinking financial hole. Washington Post

Are private schools better than public schools? New book says ‘no’. Greater school choice for families and greater autonomy for schools leads to greater academic outcomes, right?  Maybe not.  Using two nationally representative datasets, we recently conducted one of the most comprehensive studies ever performed of school type and achievement in mathematics—a subject widely held to be the best measure of in-school learning.  We analyzed instruction and performance for over 300,000 elementary and middle school students in 15,108 public, charter, and private schools.  What we found surprised us.  Students in public schools actually outperform those in private schools. Washington Post (blog)

CA: Debate Intensifies Over Public or Private Ambulance Services. For 15 fiscal years, San Diego has partnered with the private sector to provide ambulance. Now, San Diego Fire-Rescue wants to take control of the ambulances. Earlier this week, Interim Mayor Todd Gloria has decided to extend the contract with the private firm named Rural/Metro for an additional fiscal year. NBC 7 San Diego

FL: Toll-road idea delayed, group promises to resubmit proposal. A development group has withdrawn its proposal to build and operate an elevated toll road in south Pasco County but says it will resubmit the idea to state transportation officials in December. Tampabay.com (blog)           

OR: Protest Underscores Continuing Privatization of Oregon Schools. The Oregon Business Association (OBA) held its annual Statesman Dinner on October 17 to honor the Statesman of the Year. The event was fraught with anomalies, not least of which was the fact that the award went to Sue Levin, the Executive Director of Stand for Children Oregon. According to the OBA website, while Levin is acknowledged as a woman–a stateswoman to be precise–she still had to make due with receiving the Statesman of the Year award. It was nonetheless, from the OBA’s perspective, a proper and well-deserved award. After all, Stand for Children works tirelessly to turn the public education system into a cash cow for private interests, as one would expect from an organization whose major funders include the Walton Family (of Wal-Mart fame) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Bay Area Indymedia

 

 

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PA: Corbett administration’s legal bills rising. Last week, Gov. Corbett came under fire for spending nearly $3.5 million on law firms as part of his quest to privatize the Pennsylvania Lottery. That was only one of a handful of high-profile cases pursued by the administration that have ended up costing millions of dollars in legal bills. Philly.com

DC: Opposition to DC public-private land deals imperil library, other projects….Plans dating back more than seven years to replace the library and a nearby fire station at no direct cost to taxpayers have languished despite the support of two mayors, a unanimous D.C. Council and numerous community groups. That is largely because of a band of activists, backed by Ralph Nader, who have assailed the project as a bald giveaway of public assets to private interests. They have fought the deal before the council, in front of a zoning board and in the courts, losing at every turn but repeatedly delaying groundbreaking as they raise alarms…. At issue for Nader is the price of the land, which the city intends to sell to a private developer planning to build more than 150 luxury apartments and retail space — in addition to the library, firehouse and affordable housing.  Washington Post

LA: Questions raised about transparency in LSU hospital deals. The contracts that turned over management of LSU hospitals and clinics to private companies have drawn concerns about how much the public will know about the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that flow to the facilities. The deals allow for legislative audits of public spending, but they also include sweeping clauses that allow the hospital managers to determine what’s considered public record and what should be kept hidden.  Monroe News Star

CA: California To Privatize Court Docketing Systems. Courts are turning to the private sector to update their docketing systems, which languished while waiting for the new system. …That should scare you. When private companies take over these systems, they naturally try to monetize them – creating what Courthouse News calls the “tollroad” to legal information.  As a result, the public access is damaged by “contracts that allow a software provider to control and exploit the public record.” This happened in Texas, when LexisNexis took over the docketing system in Bexar County.  Justia

NC: Editorial: Economic development: State’s plan to privatize comes with risks. Gov. Pat McCrory wants to privatize the state’s economic development efforts and is likely to get his way. The legislature has provided initial funding for the change. But, as the Journal’s Richard Carver reported, the nonpartisan Washington research center Good Jobs First says such a change is risky. Privatization has created huge problems in several states. If North Carolina is to avoid trouble, the governor and legislators must establish and abide by rigorous standards of ethical behavior, accountability and public transparency.   Winston-Salem Journal

Good Riddance to Good Government and Good Jobs?….. Groups like the conservative, Koch-funded Pioneer Institute seem to be calling for wholesale privatization with no protections for the public’s money or welfare. In other words, they are advocating privatizing work even if it costs more and provides poorer quality. Truth-Out

 

 

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OH: Bell discloses talks on privatizing Toledo Express Airport. Mayor Mike Bell disclosed on Wednesday that he has been in talks to turn over the operation of the city-owned Toledo Express Airport to a 26-year-old businessman. City emails turned over to The Blade show Dock David Treece, a partner in a West Toledo-based financial investment advisory firm — whose father was once a Republican Sylvania Township trustee — has tried for at least seven months to get the Bell administration interested in signing over complete control of the money-losing Toledo Express Airport. The emails make it clear Mr. Treece wants to cut Toledo City Council out of the process. Toledo Blade

VA: Tolling advocates cheer Virginia court ruling in their favor. Advocates of expanding tolling on U.S. highways are cheering a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that private-public partnerships can include tolls. A group of Virginia residents had challenged the inclusion of tolls on a pair of tunnel projects in Norfolk, Va., arguing that the tolls were really a tax that should only be levied by the state government. “Tolls are not a tax; they are a user fee,” Jones continued. …Lawmakers in Congress have suggested that they might consider emulating a Virginia plan to collect gas taxes on retailers instead of from drivers at the pump to boost revenue for federal transportation projects. The Hill (blog)

FL: When government, outsourcing and technology meet, it isn’t always pretty – commentary. Government functions are large-scale and complex. Due to the rallying call for smaller government over the past two decades, government agencies and state legislatures have attempted to privatize many of their functions. Stroll down memory lane with me as I recall several of Florida’s attempts to contract out the revamping of government services or administrative functions through the use of technology. Tampa Bay Tribune

GA: State may privatize student housing. The University System of Georgia may sell a significant portion of its student housing portfolio, the beginning of what could be an even larger privatization of its campus dorms.  Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

 

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Report: Uneven Training for Contract Guards for Federal Buildings. Contract guards who protect federal buildings have received uneven and inconsistent training on responding to shootings like the one last month at the Washington Navy Yard, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday. NBC Washington

Imprisoned Profits. It may be hard to see who the benefactor of this penal epidemic is, but one has certainly emerged: private prisons. In a cruel, cyclical pattern, private prisons both benefit from and contribute to higher incarceration rates. By operating with profit motivations, they create an exploitative system that rewards unreasonable imprisonment levels, unjustly depriving individuals of their freedom and draining resources from society.  Harvard Crimson

NY: City’s Charter Schools Fear Having de Blasio for a Landlord. Charter schools in New York City have flourished over the past decade, attracting donations from Wall Street, praise from leaders in business and government, and free real estate from the city. But with a changing of the guard imminent in City Hall, many charter school leaders are concerned that the support they have enjoyed during the three terms of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg may be in peril. The New York Times

CA: Janet Napolitano outlines grand vision for UC. Responding to questions, she also said she opposes privatizing the university, has a wait-and-see attitude toward online education. San Francisco Chronicle

 

 

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WI: Most with vouchers didn’t come from public schools. Nearly 80 percent of students who received a taxpayer-subsidized voucher to attend private school this year did not go to a Wisconsin public school last year, data released Tuesday showed. The voucher program is touted by its supporters as a way to help students escape poorly performing public schools. Opponents, primarily Democrats and public school advocates, say the program is unaccountable to taxpayers and takes resources away from others who need it… “These numbers expose the expansion of the unaccountable private school voucher program for the scam that it is,” said Scot Ross, director of the liberal anti-voucher group One Wisconsin Now. “It’s not about helping kids; it’s a far-right-driven effort to privatize schools and satisfy the wealthy campaign contributors and well-connected special interests behind it.” San Francisco Chronicle

PA: Gov. Tom Corbett once again delays decision on Pa. Lottery privatization pursuit. Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration will continue its examination into the privatization of the management of the Pennsylvania Lottery for two more months. The administration announced Tuesday that United Kingdom-based Camelot Global Services has agreed for an 11th time to extend its bid’s expiration date, which was set to expire today. It now is good through Dec. 31. Patriot-News

PA: Auditor General calls on Corbett to stop spending on lottery privatization consultants. In a news release issued Tuesday, DePasquale said he directed his staff to immediately begin to review and scrutinize this diversion of use of Lottery Fund dollars from funding senior programs to paying for consultants. “Funds from the Pennsylvania Lottery are supposed to help older Pennsylvanians with prescriptions, transportation, home-delivered meals and property tax and rent rebates, not to fatten the coffers of law firms and private consultants over a Lottery privatization contract that may never see the light of day,” DePasquale said. Penn Live

OR: Seven arrested in Portland postal privatization protest. Seven people were arrested during a protest at a downtown Portland postal facility Tuesday after a security guard clashed with demonstrators. The protest was being held in opposition to the outsourcing of postal jobs…..Demonstrators were protesting the recent loss of postal jobs to private corporations in Portland and Salem…. “We’ve written letters, we’ve called and were up there before when they promised they would meet with us,” Daniel said. “Then they said no, they would not meet with us.”  OregonLive.com

LA: Feds looking at privatization funding. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is asking questions about the financial arrangements needed to make privatization of LSU hospitals. The Advocate

CA: New City Ambulance Deal Wages Public vs. Private. San Diego firefighters now want the contract for emergency medical transport services. Since 1997, a private firm named Rural/Metro has been the city’s ambulance provider. San Diego’s Fire-Rescue Department chief now wants an in-house operation….” “There’s big profit in it, and that’s why you’re seeing the lobbyists and these timely, so-called reports that these taxpayer groups are putting out. When, in fact, their whole board is comprised of people that have an interest in it because they’re all wanting to privatize,” he said. “We’re not in it for a profit. Our shareholders are the citizens. We want to provide the highest services.” NBC 7 San Diego

CA: San Diego hires efficiency expert with controversial past. Stephen Goldsmith…is known as an expert in privatizing city governments…. Goldsmith served two terms as Mayor of Indianapolis, America’s 12 largest city, where he’s said to have saved local government hundreds of millions of dollars in spending by cutting government services and selling those out to the private sector. His measures are also reported to have resulted in hundreds of government worker layoffs. More recently, Goldsmith served as Deputy Mayor of New York City, brought in by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to help him run the city more efficiently. That didn’t go as planned, he resigned 14 months into the job after being arrested for domestic violence, but was reportedly never criminally charged.  10News

Fighting Fires is Big Business for Private Companies…As the private firefighting industry has grown, so too has its influence on politicians and government. Despite, the rapid growth of the industry, there has been little public debate about the role of these companies until now. “Why is fire management on public lands being turned over to profit-seeking corporations?” asks Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology. “They don’t share the same interests as folks with a vision of long-term stewardship.” The main concern people like Ingalsbee share is that private companies are putting profit over the environment.  Earth Island Journal

Privatization Everywhere: Public Universities Want to Go Private. The reason why this is so is not too hard to figure out: as states have cut (and cut) funding for their public universities, public higher education inches toward the private university model: higher tuition costs, and more financial aid for those students the universities want to attract. And who are those students? The ones that will boost a school’s rankings and prestige. This of course means that more and more students from lower-income families will (are) being priced out of higher education. ProPublica has shown that, in a gross inversion, wealthier kids are sucking up the aid from colleges and universities, leaving the most financially needy in a bind. Houston Press (blog)