New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie is unveiling plans to save that fiscally troubled state $210 annually by privatizing such current state operations as motor vehicle inspections, state parks and turnpike toll booths. We’re looking at closing state parks to save money. Why not let an entrepreneur show what he/she can do to keep a park open, create some jobs and maybe turn a buck or two of profit? Golf courses–same idea. Garbage collection, street cleaning, servicing public vehicle fleets–if Jersey can do it with their morass of union connections and entrenched bureaucrats, a smaller state like New Mexico should at least be able to try some test privatization to see if it works better.
Given the fraud/corruption in the city of Albuquerque and county of Bernalillo, this is long overdue.
Good work Jim, but now the challenge is to keep beating on government to make the changes.
Perhaps letters to the editor, OP ED pieces.
Put the City garbage pick up business up for bids. Why can’t Waste Management do the job?
Privatize the water supply and air port There are endless examples.
Don’t forget about the fire department. Let’s make it just like our healthcare system – before your house can be saved from burning down, you need to make a $1000 down payment. This may or may not involve using a touch-tone system and long hold times.
(In case it isn’t obvious, that was a joke). I think there are some services that could definitely be privatized – waste collection an obvious example. But there are others that are too important to trust corporations to run them. I am a business person myself, and I know that corporations’ biggest responsibility is to make profit. Government waste is a problem that makes many New Mexicans, including myself very angry, but that doesn’t mean the solution is to turn vital services over to an entity that does not have the public interest as its number one priority.
A good example of privatization gone awry – Mayor Daley has rushed to privatize a number of Chicago services – from parking meters to hiring of public employees. In a place rife with public hiring scandals, some would say this will curb corruption. But many are saying that these contracts are sweetheart deals and that the mayor is negotiating too low and getting too little in return. And what happens in the event of shoddy service? Some of these contracts leave little room for states to discard them if the companies involved do not hold up their side of the deal. Privatization is by no means a magic bullet for ending government waste, and can ultimately cost more for taxpayers if not administered properly.