Some new cities outsource city hall
Source: By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY, Updated 9/14/2006 11:14 PM ET
Newly formed cities are giving the keys to city hall to private companies that say they can run a government better than bureaucrats. Mayors in "contract cities" say they get better services for less money; more flexibility, because private employees can be hired and fired more easily than workers under civil service rules; and lower debt, because they can own fewer buildings and less equipment. Sandy Springs, a new Atlanta suburb, hired CH2M Hill to staff all of its departments except police and fire for about $30 million a year. The city of almost 100,000 has only four employees besides police officers and firefighters.
....... Kerry Korpi of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees says giving a company control of city hall is giving away control of the city. "Contractors aren't subject to the same kind of open-records and open-meetings laws as public employees are," she says. "You end up with a shadow government."
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