Newburyport blogger Tom Salemi argues that regionalization of city/town services is “difficult” and “tough.” Not to sound cliche, but such is life if you sit on your pansy and don’t stand up, walk beyond your backyard, and make things happen.
Travel south of Boston to the Plymouth County communities of Abington and Rockland and observe how life appears to be separate but equal in both towns. They each have their parades, festivals, libraries, and government boards that operate and exist in a unitary fashion. Dig a little deeper and you will find an entity called the Abington-Rockland Joint Water Works.
In the late 1800s, the two towns (along with neighboring Whitman) were once consolidated, but during the industrial revolution the three towns split off and incorporated as unique entities. The Joint Water Works remains a symbol of the former consolidation and a sign that communities can and do work together successfully in the name of commonality.
If you attend a Rockland Board of Water Commissioners meeting, you will observe a strange phenomenon: the board will sit and discuss for about 15-30 minutes the needs of its residents, and then they adjourn and the Abington commissioners meet. Then, both sets of commissioners re-form as a joint board. Any resident of either town who has a gripe or a complaint brings that issue before the joint board.
Travel farther south and a tad west to York County, Pennsylvania and observe the York Area Regional Police, formed in July 2000, by the merger of the York and Windsor township police departments. The regional police department serves five communities.
The police merger was so successful that earlier this month, two York County fire departments merged, as explained here.
Closer to home, the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce and the Haverhill Downtown Association merged two months ago.
Mergers happen all the time, whether you look at the 1955 merger of the AFL and CIO, the 1996 merger of Boston City Hospital and the Boston University Medical Center, or the 2005 merger of Gillette and P&G. Exxon and Mobil, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler, Worldcom and MCI, the list goes on. Don’t forget the 2003 merger of the City of Louisville, Kentucky and Jefferson County as explained in depth by the Brookings Institution.
What’s the difference between regionalization and a merger, you ask?
According to this source, a northern New York blog post from two years ago, regionalization and consolidation are the same, which he defines as taking from one community to give to another, with the decisions of who wins and who loses left to an elite group of insiders. Contrast that with a merger when different localities are expected to share in the costs of services [and] in the benefits, and the decision-making.
Lastly, consider that the City of Boston and Suffolk County (except Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop) were consolidated as one government for most of the 20th century. The partnership only disbanded in 1999 with the dissolution of county governments in Massachusetts.
Instead of Newburyport and neighboring communities fighting with the state over local aid distributions and funding mechanisms, wouldn’t a merger help?
Instead of Newburyport arguing over water consumption with proposed Newbury developments, wouldn’t a merger help?
Instead of Newburyport sharing its ladder truck with neighboring communities every time they don’t have the height, wouldn’t a merger help?
Instead of Newburyport sharing the Merrimack River with communities on the opposite bank, wouldn’t a merger help?
Instead of Plum Island concerns over beach erosion, river dredging, and limited access to police, fire, and health services be an issue of two communities, wouldn’t a merger help?
I’m not suggesting that Newburyport straight out merge with another community, though I’m not opposed to that either down the road. Rather, let’s follow the examples of the Abington-Rockland Joint Water Works, the York Area Regional Police, and Boston Medical Center, among countless other examples, and make something happen so the outcome is better than the status quo.
With all of the talk about the necessity for increased collaboration and coordination among state, regional, local, and business interests, let’s stop brainstorming ideas, admit life is difficult, and start doing something.
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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