The Morning Report
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City of San Diego voters aren’t the only ones watching how Proposition C fares on Election Day.
The Reason Foundation has featured Mayor Jerry Sanders’ proposal to allow private companies to compete for city work as one of four annual highlights in the movement to privatize government.
In its “Annual Privatization Report 2006,” the libertarian think tank lists Sanders’ ballot measure beside a recently incorporated city in Georgia that has outsourced nearly all of its services for a 30 percent savings for taxpayers there, as well as large county in Ohio that has started to hold competitions for the right to perform the government’s fleet maintenance, utilities, telecommunications and fire hydrant repairs.
Here’s how the report addresses Proposition C:
Faced with a ballooning $1.39 billion pension deficit and a razor-thin city budget that has undergone recent cuts, the mayor included managed competition as a major piece of his fiscal recovery plan. As part of his State of the City address, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced his plans to focus on core services and reengineer city government.
“I’m going to reduce waste, duplication and bureaucracy; and I’m going to search for more cost-effective ways to provide quality services.” Sanders has suggested that the process will be transparent and contain safeguards to prevent abuse, yet demonstrate results and cost savings. “The goal in this process will be a smaller, more responsive and more cost efficient city government,” said Sanders.
You can find the whole San Diego write-up on page 5 of the report.