Politics & Government

Letter: We Need More Shared Services

Freeholder candidate says county board should take the lead

The letter below is from Truscha Quatrone, a Democratic candidate for the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Quatrone will face either incumbent Margaret Nordstrom or newcomer Hank Lyon in the general election; Nordstrom and Lyon are fighting for the GOP nomination in a court battle over their party's primary.

In 2009 34 of the 39 municipalities in Morris County participated in a grass roots survey about shared service in the County. The name of the survey was the Government Efficiency Movement. A report was developed from the survey responses and meetings held in the county by the advisory committee of the GEM report.

 The committee members included Hon. Timothy Smith founder, and former Mayor of Roxbury. The advisory Committee Consisted of Mayors and Council Presidents from Township of Morris, Borough of Lincoln Park, Township of Rockaway, Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, Township of Mt. Olive, Borough of Kinnelon, Jefferson Township and Linda K. Murphy, Shared Services Coordinator, County of Morris

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 The survey question covered all areas of possible shared service. Some of the areas discussed were police, firefighters, Department of Public Works, equipment, tax collection, garbage collection, storm water management, construction, parks maintenance and road work.

The Government Efficency Management Advisory Committee recommended the creation of three key initiatives to further explore the feasibility of countywide or regional service delivery;

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  1. Make local government as streamlined and efficient as possible.
  2. Focus on elimination of “administrative boundaries” rather than on changing “political boundaries”.
  3. Create a longer term roadmap to help guide positive change.

Additionally, they recommended the creation of a technology/process working group to develop cutting-edge solutions that would create greater efficiencies for 21st Century municipal government countywide.

This report was concluded in 2009 with recommendations to take place in 2010. It is now the 3rd quarter of 2011, and all local governments are struggling with budgets and providing adequate services to their residents; very little of the recommendations have been implemented.

Why hasn’t the Morris County Board of Freeholders offered to help municipalities institute some of the recommendations from the advisory committee? Why is there no information on the GEM report on the county’s website?

Something as important as saving tax dollars through shared services should be endorsed encouraged and supported by the County Freeholder Board. The fact that the report was a grassroots initiative by local Mayors from within the county should be evidence that there is a need and desire for shared services within Morris County.

We need to make sure our county elected officials are behind this program and helping to make it a reality for the municipalities and residents of the county.

Morris County should be the leader implementing shared services in the state of New Jersey. This is something that county and municipal leaders must strive for together.

Have a letter for Patch? E-mail Louis@Patch.com.

 


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