LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
December 30, 2003
Letter to the editor,
A period of tight governmental finances and a growing desire for cooperation between Fort Wayne and Allen County have made local government structure a hot topic of public discussion recently.
I fully support an investigation of options for reforming our government structure. We should be prepared to make changes if they will make our area a more attractive place to live and to operate a business. It is essential, however, that we make these decisions based on exhaustive research as well as input from all sectors of our community.
Since governments are in place principally to provide a bundle of services to their constituents, we need to start by understanding what services the current governments provide and to whom. We also need to know if the governmental units have any discretion about whether or how to provide a particular service.
It’s productive to begin by dispelling the misconception that there is massive duplication of services between the city and the county.
The government of Allen County, as established in the Indiana Constitution, is required to and does provide a wide range of unduplicated services for all 330,000 residents of Allen County — including those who live within the city limits of Fort Wayne or any other incorporated area.
The courts are an obvious example of uniquely county services. All criminal and civil actions go through courts maintained entirely by Allen County government. The court staff, the prosecutors, the public defenders and the probation officers are all county-funded employees. The jail and lockup are county facilities, as are the juvenile detention facility and the Youth Services Center. The city of Fort Wayne does not operate any such facilities.
While court-related functions claim the lion’s share of the county’s budget, the county also provides many other services to all Allen County residents. The tax assessment, collection and disbursement process is performed entirely by county government. Property ownership records are maintained by a county office. All building permits are issued by a county department. The county-funded health department operates the TB Clinic, the STD Clinic and an Immunization Clinic for all county residents. Not one of these services is duplicated in city government.
On the other hand, the government of the city of Fort Wayne is one of several city governments within Allen County, and it provides a group of urban services only to the 220,000 residents who live within its boundaries.
Yes, there are a few areas where the city and the county perform similar services within their jurisdictions, such as planning and parks. But even some seemingly duplicated departments do not overlap as much as one might assume. For example, the county’s Highway Department maintains all the bridges throughout Allen County. The cities do not maintain bridges located inside their borders. The county Sheriff’s Department serves warrants countywide. City police departments do not perform that function.
There is no doubt that our current structure of multiple, overlapping governmental jurisdictions sometimes results in situations that are complicated and inefficient. On the other hand, we should not assume that “bigger is better,” since experience proves that larger entities are not necessarily more efficient or responsive.
All Allen County residents would be well served by thoughtful, open-minded discussion of governmental restructuring. But we need to be sure to proceed with correct information about the existing system. Otherwise we risk creating a new system that will be less capable of responding to our needs.
Margaret M. Ankenbruck
Vice President, Allen County Council
Dear Editor
I believe that you owe the members of St. Therese Catholic Church and the Waynedale community an apology for the comments that were printed in the December 10, 2003 issue of The Waynedale News. I am referring to the article Hometown Views with Mrs. Wayne A. Dale.
The article refereed to the tail end of a turkey as the “Popes nose.” It is very disrespectful to slander the visible head of the Catholic Church in such a manner, and consider it humor. I was truly disappointed! You should be ashamed!
Mrs. S.
> Read More Information About Us
> More Articles Written By Our Staff
- Community Invited To Paint Rocks For Urban League Project - April 26, 2024
- The “Bad Guys” In Your Garden & What To Do About Them - April 26, 2024
- Why Voting In The Primary Election Matters - April 26, 2024