D&C Goes Metro .... Again

My son and I look at the newspaper together most mornings. He thinks the funniest section is the comics. I, on the other hand, get most of my amusement from the editorial page.

This morning the D&C had its 7th or 8th or umpteenth (I've lost count) piece on government consolidation/metro government. Today they used their editorial entitled "No more one-shots" as their vehicle for promoting their number one agenda item. Ostensibly, this editorial was calling on the Brooks administration to be careful about selling off County resources to get one-time cash infusions to close the remaining budget gap this year.

But, of course, the D&C editorialists could not pass up the opportunity to throw in a metro pitch. The editorial goes on to propose that the County government needs to look for savings through "major government consolidations". Specifically mentioned were "public safety services" and "fire districts", which, by the way, in the opinion of the D&C, "are too numerous" in Monroe County.

So lets see, Monroe County will save money through "major" consolidation of public safety services and fire districts. I really wish the editorial had gone on to explain how that would work. To the best of my knowledge, the County does not provide fire fighting services directly. So how could consolidation (elimination?) of fire districts help the County reduce its budget?

What about public safety services? Well, we have a Sheriff's road patrol, the RPD, and six towns have their own police. If all public safety services are consolidated into a larger Sheriff's department, the County would have to spend more money. Of course, as an alternative, there could be a new "government" entity (the Rochester Regional Metro Police District?). Presumably, all county residents would pay for that service, but, I guess the County budget would be reduced since there would no longer be a Sheriff's road patrol. I have serious doubts as to whether the cost per taxpayer would go down; I am certain police service in Gates (and in the other towns with local police) would be dramatically reduced.

The D&C can't bring itself to tell the truth. Their real concerns about County budget issues; the F.A.I.R. plan; local government consolidation; "smart growth" vs. "urban sprawl"; and on and on, and on, are really all about one thing; to wit: saving the City of Rochester from the utter failure of all of its operations over the past 30+ years. Metro government is the only way
the City of Rochester can afford to continue. Metro government's purpose is to suck up suburban resources and reallocate them to the City.

It would be a fair issue for a debate. Too bad the D&C is afraid to debate that issue honestly.