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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Don’t rush into a decision
From staff reports
Baytown Sun Published June 28, 2009 Mayor Stephen DonCarlos was right when he told city council members they didn’t need to rush into a decision on whether to privatize the city’s ambulance service.
And City Manager Garry Brumback’s comment was correct that the council could enlist the help of an impartial group to recommend whether the privatizion plan should go forward.
For years cities and states have looked to private industry to perform functions normally performed by the public sector. It is often done for purely financial reasons or at other times because the private business is much larger or specialized in one area.
If a private company can provide equal or better services at less of a cost, it certainly would be prudent to privatize that particular public service.
However, there are risks. City officials would lose most operational control, and even if penalties are in place for poor service, when it comes to emergency services, penalties do little good for those who were personally affected.
But, as an Urban Institute report a decade ago stated:
“The little empirical analysis comparing the effectiveness of public versus private service delivery shows no clear evidence that private service delivery is inherently more effective or less effective than public service delivery, although the public, private, and nonprofit sectors each have their own relative strengths and weaknesses. There are examples of success and failure in both sectors. Most of the research suggests that the key factor is whether there is clear accountability for results, clear criteria in contracts, and clear public objectives. The government is responsible for assuring that public services are effective, whether or not the services are publicly delivered.”
Before the city commits itself to privatizing it should — and most likely will — study if the public would be better served, both in fiscal and public health aspects.
Baytown Sun Published June 28, 2009 Mayor Stephen DonCarlos was right when he told city council members they didn’t need to rush into a decision on whether to privatize the city’s ambulance service.
And City Manager Garry Brumback’s comment was correct that the council could enlist the help of an impartial group to recommend whether the privatizion plan should go forward.
For years cities and states have looked to private industry to perform functions normally performed by the public sector. It is often done for purely financial reasons or at other times because the private business is much larger or specialized in one area.
If a private company can provide equal or better services at less of a cost, it certainly would be prudent to privatize that particular public service.
However, there are risks. City officials would lose most operational control, and even if penalties are in place for poor service, when it comes to emergency services, penalties do little good for those who were personally affected.
But, as an Urban Institute report a decade ago stated:
“The little empirical analysis comparing the effectiveness of public versus private service delivery shows no clear evidence that private service delivery is inherently more effective or less effective than public service delivery, although the public, private, and nonprofit sectors each have their own relative strengths and weaknesses. There are examples of success and failure in both sectors. Most of the research suggests that the key factor is whether there is clear accountability for results, clear criteria in contracts, and clear public objectives. The government is responsible for assuring that public services are effective, whether or not the services are publicly delivered.”
Before the city commits itself to privatizing it should — and most likely will — study if the public would be better served, both in fiscal and public health aspects.