The Regional Chamber of Commerce has said it and done it. Some fire services are doing it. Banks and other buisinesses are doing it. But why not government? One of the biggest issues affecting the older communities of the northeast is the loss of the “higher” paying wages and the the remants of the former industrial bases. Combine these two items together and you have a smaller, older tax base and larger portions of the communities that no longer need services from an old and unsustainable infrastructure that is no longer able to be cared for in the highest level. The result – communites that are hanging on for their own benefit without a larger view for community.
The problem, as the Youngstown 2010 program appropriately points out, is you can no longer continue looking backwards, but you need to think about shrinking smart. As the trend grows in the Northeast Ohio area, communities need leadership that understands that a elimination of a city department, or the creation of a joint program is not a decrease in services to the public, but rather an improvement to the current standard. Hopefully by sounding off on the concerns and recognizing the positive features of the area, change can be effected.
