CLEAR THE WAY FOR REGIONALISM

Talk about herding cats.

How does the state of Connecticut go about encouraging 169 separate communities to reduce wasteful duplication of effort and move in the same direction on regional approaches to services and challenges?

Some enlightened municipalities are forging ahead with regional cooperation.

The Naugatuck River Valley towns of Ansonia and Derby, for instance, have embarked on a two-year study on the possibility of combining their school systems.

Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan said, “This doesn’t have to be just Ansonia and Derby; we would welcome any other district to come on board.”

But he really hit the nail on the head when he added, “It’s all about being able to provide the best possible education for our children.”

That’s the whole idea right there. Whether it’s education, snowplowing, data processing or buying paper goods, the goal should be doing it the “best possible” way.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the main voice for the state’s individual entities, has asked the Legislature to help those communities that have seen the light, to be able to work with neighboring towns to find ways to save money and eliminate duplication.

Among steps the Legislature could take is legislation that would make it easier for willing towns to enter into an agreement to share goods or services, an initiative that can run afoul of, say, state statutes that mandate individual towns to provide a service.

Local ordinances and regulations may also be an impediment, as can labor contracts if, for instance, employees resist any change in work conditions.

When times were flush — if there’s anyone who might recall that period in Connecticut — there may not have been as great an incentive as there is today for communities to find every imaginable way to save money.

But with communities continuing to depend largely on the long-outdated system of property tax, and with the state struggling with mountainous budget deficits, the need to be imaginative is intense.

The 21st-century challenges to municipalities simply cry for regional approaches.

As usual, the most stressed participants in this conversation are the state’s big cities.

The Legislature could do a favor for every resident of the state, whether they live on a farm or in a public housing project, by encouraging stability in Connecticut’s cities.

Cutting state aid to cities translates directly into increased property tax, unless that community makes further painful cuts in services to its citizens.

Whatever the state Legislature can do to lower hurdles that stand between regional cooperation would be a welcome development for the state’s municipalities and their residents.

The 21st-century challenges to municipalities simply cry for regional approaches.