Welcome back to Count Me In for 2011. You prbably can see we've tinkered with the appearance a bit. We hope you like it.
And we really hope you like the new content we have coming your way, starting this week. We'll be turning the blog over to some guest bloggers from time to time as a way to provide more information about our community and to hopefully provoke more thoughtful discussion.
And who are these guest bloggers? Some you might know, others you might not. But they all know what they're talking about, and they all are involved in work that is making York County a better place.
We'll have Eric Menzer, president and GM of the York Revolution, former YorkCounts board chairman and a fixture in York's civic life for close to 20 years. Eric will talk about his work in York and around the state related to reviving downtowns. We'll have Shanna Wiest, government affairs director for the Realtors Association of York & Adams Counties and a board member of the York Adams Smart Growth Coalition, talking about issues related to smart growth and suburban sprawl. We'll introduce others as we get into the year, talking about diversity, early childhood education and economic development, among other topics.
But first up among our guest bloggers is Leigh Dalton. Leigh is the director of the York County Truancy Prevention Initiative and the community mobilizer for the new York County Communities That Care. On Friday, she'll write about finding the right balance between creating a stronger support system for young kids over the long term and helping teens stay on track to graduate and become productive citizens right now.
We're excited about all of this, and we hope you find it useful enough to share with friends and co-workers. And, as always, feel free to comment and continue the conversation.
- Dan Fink
News and views from YorkCounts and its partners about the work we are all doing to create a vibrant York County.
Showing posts with label smart growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smart growth. Show all posts
05 January 2011
26 January 2010
The truth about YorkCounts
Every now and then, I'll leave a comment on one of the York newspapers' forums. Because it can be challenging to have reasonable discussions on those forums - those of you who read the comments know what I'm talking about - I thought I'd use one exchange to make a point here.
Someone who identified themselves as Truth took exception to my agreement with a York Daily Record editorial supporting regional police services. Here is Truth's full response to my comment:
"Dan, please don't distort the truth. Those of us who were present at the various meetings know full well that the suburban police chiefs did not tell YorkCounts that police services should be provided regionally. That has been a perpetuated misleading statement recited by YorkCounts on countless occasions. What SOME, not all, of the suburban chiefs said was that concept is worth exploring, but the chiefs did not jump on board with your concept. Now, THAT'S the truth. There is no reliable data that suggests that regionalization will reduce crime. None."
Had I chosen to respond again on the forum, here's what I would have said:
It's not me who's distorting the truth. The position of the chiefs at those meetings - and we have the names of participants who spoke on the record - was that fighting crime could be done more effectively with a regional department. It was not about "exploring the concept." One of those suburban chiefs - Darryl Albright from Northeastern Regional - felt strongly enough about it that he asked to sit in on meetings to discuss how to do a study of the issue. That's the truth.
Other critics claimed current collaborations such as the York County Drug Task Force are sufficient. They say West Manchester Township is correct in its critiques of YorkCounts' vision of a regionalized force, that it will end up as a bailout of the city police.
And I say: Nobody knows for sure - not people who prefer their small-town department, not West Manchester Township officials, not YorkCounts - how a regional police department would deliver services compared to the way things work now. But we know from talking with a consultant that regionalizing services has worked elsewhere to the benefit of all involved. Our position is: The chiefs said there's a better way to do it; we want to do a study to see what's possible here; and we'll keep working to make that happen.
Others say the city should pay for its own police. Guess what: Books have been written that show how the resources in cities across the country have been sucked dry by the land-use and transportation policies of the past 60 years - policies established by federal, state and local governments to encourage suburban development. It's not York's fault that the middle class moved to the suburbs in the '50s and '60s. It's not York's fault that downtown merchants followed. It's not York's fault that the majority of people who remain in the city are poor renters. So what does a shrinking tax base, concentrated poverty and increased demand for services add up to? It means you don't have enough money or staff to do what needs to be done. YorkCounts advocates for municipal policies that increase affordable housing throughout the county, smart growth that invests in established communities, and fairer taxing policies that would allow cities to shift away from property taxes.
How do you respond to questions about YorkCounts and its work?
- Dan Fink
Someone who identified themselves as Truth took exception to my agreement with a York Daily Record editorial supporting regional police services. Here is Truth's full response to my comment:
"Dan, please don't distort the truth. Those of us who were present at the various meetings know full well that the suburban police chiefs did not tell YorkCounts that police services should be provided regionally. That has been a perpetuated misleading statement recited by YorkCounts on countless occasions. What SOME, not all, of the suburban chiefs said was that concept is worth exploring, but the chiefs did not jump on board with your concept. Now, THAT'S the truth. There is no reliable data that suggests that regionalization will reduce crime. None."
Had I chosen to respond again on the forum, here's what I would have said:
It's not me who's distorting the truth. The position of the chiefs at those meetings - and we have the names of participants who spoke on the record - was that fighting crime could be done more effectively with a regional department. It was not about "exploring the concept." One of those suburban chiefs - Darryl Albright from Northeastern Regional - felt strongly enough about it that he asked to sit in on meetings to discuss how to do a study of the issue. That's the truth.
Other critics claimed current collaborations such as the York County Drug Task Force are sufficient. They say West Manchester Township is correct in its critiques of YorkCounts' vision of a regionalized force, that it will end up as a bailout of the city police.
And I say: Nobody knows for sure - not people who prefer their small-town department, not West Manchester Township officials, not YorkCounts - how a regional police department would deliver services compared to the way things work now. But we know from talking with a consultant that regionalizing services has worked elsewhere to the benefit of all involved. Our position is: The chiefs said there's a better way to do it; we want to do a study to see what's possible here; and we'll keep working to make that happen.
Others say the city should pay for its own police. Guess what: Books have been written that show how the resources in cities across the country have been sucked dry by the land-use and transportation policies of the past 60 years - policies established by federal, state and local governments to encourage suburban development. It's not York's fault that the middle class moved to the suburbs in the '50s and '60s. It's not York's fault that downtown merchants followed. It's not York's fault that the majority of people who remain in the city are poor renters. So what does a shrinking tax base, concentrated poverty and increased demand for services add up to? It means you don't have enough money or staff to do what needs to be done. YorkCounts advocates for municipal policies that increase affordable housing throughout the county, smart growth that invests in established communities, and fairer taxing policies that would allow cities to shift away from property taxes.
How do you respond to questions about YorkCounts and its work?
- Dan Fink
15 December 2009
Regional smart growth group hosts forum
YorkCounts is a big believer in regionalism and in better land-use planning. So we're excited about this coalition that was formed recently by representatives from York and Adams counties. And this group, the York-Adams Regional Smart Growth Coalition, is not made up of the usual collection of planners and township managers. This is home builders and real estate agents, businesspeople who have skin in the game for wanting to see growth managed more effectively.
The YorkCounts board recently endorsed the coalition's mission, which includes the following:
- Dan Fink
The YorkCounts board recently endorsed the coalition's mission, which includes the following:
- Encouraging environmentally sound development practices
- Sustaining healthy farms and abundant farmland
- Revitalizing our older urban areas
- Fostering economic growth that brings high-quality jobs to our citizens
- Assuring reasonable housing costs that keep home ownership within reach of most households and providing an array of homeownership opportunities in our communities
- Matching infrastructure development with growth strategies
- And encouraging growth in areas where infrastructure currently exists
- Dan Fink
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