MLI’s Managing Director, Brian Crowley, was asked to speak to the Maine Municipal Association in September. The topic: Would amalgamation of towns and school boards save money and improve administration? It’s an issue that is front and centre in the State of Maine as State elections loom and the Executive of the association turned to an outside expert for some unbiased counsel. Advice that Crowley provides to all Maine-ites today in an Op Ed that runs in the Maine Sunday Telegram and the Kennebec Journal.
Crowley provides his insights into the concept of municipal amalgamation based upon his observation of similar efforts in Nova Scotia in the 1990s and elsewhere. His conclusion:
“Maine politicians and voters would do well to remember that academic research and experience in Canada and elsewhere show there are good reasons for thinking that bigger government is less efficient and responsive than smaller governmental units.”
The observation was buttressed by a litany of facts to prove the point and a presentation that, as we were told by MMA Director of Communications Eric Conrad, “[It] simply was the best part of the day-and-a-half-long retreat.”
Read the entire Op Ed here…
Posted by George Young
