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Journal Opinion
"Steve Lewis' CandorIn his valedictory as chairman of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, Steven Lewis served substantive food for thought that the leadership in the Mahoning Valley should digest. Lewis, chief executive officer of First Place Financial Corp., called on elected officials "to investigate opportunities to eliminate municipal redundancy and funding formulas that are no longer practical...even if it means costing them their seats."The infrastructure that serves local governments was created to serve a different environment, Lewis told chamber members at the group's annual meeting March 22. "We need to remold that infrastructure to meet the needs of our evolving region and not allow that antiquated infrastructure to mold us."He went so far as to advocate grabbing the third rail of local politics as he urged communities to "take a serious and unselfish look at school-district consolidations to rechannel redundant overhead into educational opportunities for our kids."As longtime advocates of regionalism, we say, "Hear, hear." Contrary to a popular aphorism, government can't be run like a business. Businesses, created to turn a profit, pick and choose who they'll serve. In the United States, governments were created to serve the people, all the people, and help those who can't help themselves.Regardless, there is much the public sector can learn, and adapt or adopt, from the private for-profit sector. Here Lewis is qualified to offer instruction.Companies have often found where they had to merge with competitors or complementary companies to survive or grow. First Place, the result of the merger of First Federal Savings Bank of Youngstown and First Federal Savings and Loan of Warren, today has $2.3 billion in assets and has loan production offices in every major metropolitan market in Ohio. For far too long, local governmental services have been provided at excessive costs because of the levels of redundancy. Systems of school governance and municipal governance, police and fire protection, and other governmental constructs -- based on models long out of date -- serve populations a fraction of the size projected 50 years ago. School districts could be consolidated to eliminate redundant bureaucracies. Safety forces should be combined to better protect their constituencies and at lower costs.To say this won't come without pain is an understatement. Redundant positions should be eliminated; safety forces will, as firefighters have in Salem, cry that public safety is being compromised. Community pride should not stand in the way of mapping districts that better meet students' needs at less cost. And, yes, some politicians will lose their posts as government shrinks to provide equal levels of service at less expense. That should not be too high a price to pay for people who campaign by casting themselves as public servants. Lewis spoke candidly and honestly. If we like paying higher taxes than necessary and continuing substandard services, we will have no trouble coming up with excuses to ignore him. "