SAVE Commission's findings - La Follette School of Public Affairs ...

3.3
personal responsibility focus, through a dialogue
of a Citizens Bill of Responsibilities, as
suggested in the Preamble.
Tap Wisconsin knowledge to develop science
and technology policy. To address public policy
questions presented by scientific discovery and
application, a consortium of public and private
higher educational institutions should join
with business to assist government in answering
21st Century questions.
GOAL #4: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
4.1
Find new paths to the self-reliant community.
It is not government’s role to provide for all.
Therefore, initiate a serious dialogue about how
to design a new social sector involving the
public sector, business, not-for-profits and citizens
to which all contribute and from which
all benefit.
4.2
See the entire community as able to serve. To
fully tap everyone’s capacity to meet individual
or community needs, identify and remove the
inappropriate barriers that prevent not-forprofits,
businesses and others from serving the
community good. Ensure a level playing field
and fair competition for both public and private
providers by evaluating total cost to provide
service.
4.3
Government programs and employees become
helpers. To help people do things for
themselves, government programs and program
workers should be guided by the vision
of helping citizens become self-sufficient and
helping communities reach social goals
through cooperation and partnerships.
4.4
Return public health to the public agenda. To
cope with serious 21st Century threats to public
health, develop a state-led strategy that revives
and reorganizes—through new partnerships—an
approach to public health that is
driven by preventive measures and personal
responsibility.
CHAPTER 2: A 21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY THAT
WORKS
GOAL #5: COOPERATING COMMUNITIES
5.1
Create tension and incentives to encourage
intergovernmental cooperation. To encourage
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
intergovernmental and interagency cooperation,
withhold as much as 5 percent of all
1995-97 funding sources, except federal funds.
Reallocate a portion of withheld funds back to
the governmental unit when documentation
of measureable results of cost savings, efficiencies
and cooperation are provided.
Identify an intergovernmental efficiency broker
function. To save money and improve service,
assign a high level intergovernmental efficiency
broker function in the Dept. of Administration
that would use data as a point of
dialogue. It would use tools, such as a certificate
of convenience, to validate cooperation,
do economic analyses, assess risk and promote
innovation under federal delegation.
Pay once for local government service. To
achieve tax fairness and encourage broad cooperation,
require that local taxpayers pay once
for service. This benefits communities that pay
for their own police, health and other services
provided by the county. It would cost communities
that use county services without paying
for them. This recognizes that some services
benefit all, even though they are not provided
directly.
Focus multiple programs on rebuilding communities.
To make best use of the broadest
range of community development ingredients,
adopt a results-driven clearinghouse approach.
Include: Community Learning Centers (see
Goal #11); Main Street Program; state facility
placement in central cities and regions; opportunities
for state employees to work out of
homes or cars; urban forestry; recreational aids;
infrastructure investment; housing and small
business help; public safety; community education;
and urban university service (see Goal
#13).
Review the fit between local government and
new century needs. To bring local government
into the modern age, by 1998, call a local government
statutory revision convention to:
evaluate the number and size of governments,
school districts, technical college boards and
CESAs; evaluate incentives to merge; judge the
size of boards and councils; appoint, not elect,
professional offices such as treasurer, sheriff
and surveyor; and address barriers to public
service. Ask, “Would we design it this way if
we did it again?” (see Goal #10).
CITIZEN • COMMUNITY • GOVERNMENT — WISCONSIN: THE 21 ST CENTURY 61