Government Collaboration and Efficiency

A group of Ohio Legislators have introduced legislation to create a commission on Local Government Reform and Collaboration.   The legislation calls for an appointment of 9 people appointed by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House and the Governor.  The legislation calls for the final report to be due no later than July 1, 2010.

I say YEAH to the notion of a review of this nature.  The citizens of Northeast Ohio who gave voice during Voices & Choices said it needed to happen in our region - so the state is in alignment with their thinking.  In a network based society (which we are in now) versus a hierarchical society (which is what we had in centuries past), it concerns me to think that 9 people are going to issue recommendations that will affect 11+ million Ohioans and there is no mandate to engage or even listen to Ohio citizens in the process of defining the solutions.  The best plan is one that the implementers are part of creating.  I think the legislation should include some metrics and mid-term deliverables like:

1.  Requirement of open, community-engaged processes that reaches no less than 10% of the entire state population (with appropriate documentation of said process reported on some regular basis).
2.  Requirement that an online space be created where citizens of Ohio can track, monitor and engage with the Commission's work and progress.
3.  Requirement that each commission member participates in open forums and workshops (where action is initiated, not just talking taking place) and measure and report commission participation.

Food processing alone is a $7 Billion industry annually in Northeast Ohio and that figure does not take into account the value of farming.

The Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District recently published a report on the cost of providing government services to agricultural land, versus the cost of serving agricultural land that is developed for residential use.  The report summarizes that it simply costs more to service residential areas and the net tax revenue from residential areas is less than it was as agricultural land (taking into account lost economic benefit from wineries and beds & breakfast, etc).  Lake County SWCD wants to use this report to increase awareness in the sub-region about agriculture as an economic driver.  They reached out to me at ANEO and said, "how can you help and how can we work together."

While Wayne County may not use its agricultural land exactly the same way they do in Lake County, I can assure you that folks in Wayne County are fighting the same battle - they know that their agricultural heritage creates more economic value than suburban sprawl could ever create in their communities.

I'd like to help the region's agricultural community to come together and create a shared regional agenda for preserving agricultural land.  How should we do this and who will lead the agenda's implementation once its formed?