What Happened?
As Gov1 readers know, we regularly provide updates on privatization and outsourcing developments around the country. This week, however, we provide recent challenges, obstacles, and opposition to privatization.
Prison Health Care in Florida
Republican Governor Rick Scott’s ongoing push to privatize thousands of prison jobs could be headed back to court. According to reports, the challenge—submitted by the union that represents state workers—claims that the Legislative Budget Commission can not approve this massive policy change, which could impact up to 3,000 employees. Rather, argues the union, the entire Legislature should be needed for that. The Florida Department of Corrections believes that it can move forward with the privatization effort without legislative approval, and in fact has already selected two companies to handle services.
Zoo in Los Angeles
A plan to privatize the Los Angeles Zoo recently stalled, after the city failed to come to terms with the nonprofit that would have operated the facility. According to reports, the nonprofit association pulled out of talks with the city “because of a disagreement over whom the zoo director should report to.” The management-structure issue was considered critical to the nonprofit: The nonprofit was being asked to assume responsibility for the facility, but without the authority to make decisions. The city could have more than $20 million over five years through the outsourcing agreement,
Airport Buses in Kansas City
The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee of Kansas City’s city council was evenly split on a decision to outsource bus services at Kansas City International Airport. The contract, which would have saved the city more than $7 million, failure to make it out of committee over concerns about the jobs of more than 60 employees. One council member told the local media that, “I don’t think we should displace people from their jobs.” The outsourcing would have gone to a firm called Standard Parking, which did not expect to re-hire all current employees.
Parking Enforcement in LA-area City
A proposal in Hermosa Beach, California, to outsource the city’s parking enforcement division failed to garner enough support. The proposal, floated by the local mayor, was shot down by the City Council in a 3-2 vote. According to the mayor, the proposal would have increased revenues, and saved millions in employee benefits and long-term pension obligations. Media reports noted that only three residents stood up to voice support for the proposal.
Shared Services in Cincinnati
The mayor of Cincinnati no longer wants to look at sharing services with Hamilton County. That’s according to media reports, which cited the mayor’s concern that eventually the county will want to privatize too many Cincinnati services. “I will never give away the ability of the citizens of Cincinnati to control crucial city functions, such as prosecutors and health clinics, and place that authority in the hands of county elected officials, who may or may not share the interests of our citizens,” wrote the mayor in a letter to county officials. The move could detail highly touted plan by the city and county to save money by sharing services. As Gov1 has covered in the past, Ohio has been extremely progressive in pursuing shared-services models.
More Reading
Gov1 will continue to cover privatization and outsourcing developments on a regular basis. Our related coverage can be found under “Outsourcing & Privatization” in the left-hand column. If you have experience or insights related to this topic, we want to hear from you. Thank you.