Talk about public/private partnerships!
Here’s one developing that night be virtually all private with the only public part being the fact that the entity being discussed is a public city.
An excerpt.
A role model for potential cities; Johns Creek, Milton may follow Sandy Springs
CYNTHIA DANIELS; Staff The Atlanta Journal-Constitution July 3, 2006
Later this month, residents of two north Fulton County communities are expected to vote on creating their own cities, following the example of Sandy Springs a year ago.
If organizers have their way, the new cities would be built very much in the image of Sandy Springs, a governmental hybrid that has a public government staffed by employees of private companies.
Three months before the December 2005 incorporation of Sandy Springs, an interim commission appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed that Colorado-based company CH2M Hill handle the city's day-to-day and administrative operations.
For residents, the decision meant that Sandy Springs only has four city employees, excluding police officers. The rest, the code enforcement officers, the crew that patches potholes, even the folks who keep the records for City Court --- about 200 employees, professional and field staff --- either work for or subcontract with the private company.
"I don't know of another way, really, that you can start a city in short time frame --- except with private industry," said Sandy Springs incorporation guru Oliver Porter, who has volunteered advice and expertise to organizers of the proposed cities of Johns Creek and Milton. "In the longer term, it provides continuing economic benefit to do that ... in terms of efficiency, responsiveness and good government.' "
The movement to create Sandy Springs was driven by voter frustration about the use of tax money, rapid growth and a perception that the county government was not accessible.
Aware of that frustration, Sandy Springs promised superior customer service. At most city halls, nobody answers the phone after hours or on weekends, and even during business hours you're likely to get an automated recording system. Sandy Springs has a citizen call center that provides a human being to answer most calls 24 hours a day.
"Especially based on where we came from, I think we're doing very good," said District 1 councilman Dave Greenspan, who concedes there's always room for improvement.
Organizers for both proposed north Fulton cities see merit in the public-private model. They've talked to Sandy Springs leaders at length about its benefits and challenges. But the decision on whether or not to use it is not theirs. Based on Sandy Springs' experience, if voters say yes to cityhood, Perdue would appoint a five-member commission to serve as an interim government in each city to make recommendations to a not-yet-seated mayor and city council.
In Johns Creek, resources are the name of the game. If cityhood is approved, the community of 63,000 residents, between Roswell and Duluth, east of Ga. 400, would become the fourth-largest city in metro Atlanta.
