Columnist Jeff Hawkes in “A missed opportunity for the local economy” writes that David Rusk, a Washington-based urban policy consultant and former mayor of Albuquerque, N.M. who had visited Lancaster about 30 times in 2009 and 2010 as an adviser to the county planning department was a guest speaker at a recent Rotary Club luncheon.
According to Hawkes: “Rusk doesn’t advocate municipal consolidation, recognizing it’s a political non-starter. But he thinks decentralization can be countered by formal regional agreements among municipalities. Unless municipalities row as a team, we’re sunk.
“Rusk also made a plug for the county to act like ‘a big box,’ one with the wherewithal to invest in infrastructure and spur private investment. After all, Rusk pointed out, Lancaster County, population 520,000, is larger than such big-league cities as New Orleans, Cleveland and Miami…”
WATCHDOG: A wag of the tail. Hawkes also mentions the report by David Rusk ordered by the County Commissioners and then suppressed and ignored by them to which he provides a link.
