Officials Cite Benefits, Challenges of Sharing Public Services

by Harold Wolfson

(January 1, 2008) Top officials in Larchmont and Mamaroneck say that residents will get better and less costly services if the three local governments can find ways of sharing some services, equipment and expertise. They also accept that intergovernmental sharing may require some relaxation in public views of turf and authority.

In response to a direct question from the audience, Mamaroneck Town Supervisor Valerie O’Keeffe told those gathered for the December 18 meeting of the Local Summit that, in principle, a consolidation of her fire department with that of Larchmont Village could make sense.

“But it is a complicated matter,” she said. “Here’s one reason: Mamaroneck Town has a fire department with both volunteer and professional firefighters. But the volunteers run it. Larchmont also has both professional and volunteer firemen, but professionals run the department. Mamaroneck Village is an all volunteer fire department.

“The most likely consolidation would be between the Town and Larchmont fire departments. But how would one resolve who would run the combined department? And would the men who actually wield the fire axes and pull the hoses agree?” asked the supervisor.

Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld said she welcomed many forms of inter-municipal cooperation, providing “they were sensitive to political issues.” She added, “There’s no barrier to discussing these matters … there is no question but that sharing equipment and some services would provide savings for taxpayers. It would be irresponsible to ignore examining possibilities that could benefit taxpayers.”

Mamaroneck Village Mayor Kathy Savolt (left), Mamaroneck Town Supervisor Valerie O'Keeffe (top) and Larchmont Village Mayor Liz Feld discussed intermuncipal cooperation.

Study Fire Department Consolidation Now?

Ned Benton, chairman of the department of public management at John Jay College and a former Village of Larchmont trustee, said that a combination of the fire departments of Larchmont and the Town had been discussed for years and no action or even serious study of the matter had been undertaken. He believes that Larchmont alone could save about $400,000 if the two departments were consolidated. He suggested that the two governments form a non-political committee to study it and resolve impediments. Supervisor O’Keeffe and Mayor Feld acknowledged that this is worth doing.

Mamaroneck Village: Unity Within

Mayor Kathy Savolt of Mamaroneck Village said, “I’ve been in office for two weeks and 20 hours - and it’s been like jumping onto a moving train.” She said she believes in more cooperative ventures with the Town and Larchmont, but her biggest challenge at present is to build unity within the Village itself.

She said the recent immigrant day laborer controversy highlighted many existing divisions among neighborhoods. Some residents even think and act as though the east and west sides of the Boston Post Road “are different communities,” she said. She said she has initiated a program in which she and a group of Village leaders, including the police chief, will be visiting Village neighborhoods and listening to their concerns.

Greater Social Agency Cooperation

Bruce Schearer, vice president of the Local Summit, said that tri-municipal not-for-profit social agencies have been cooperating and sharing services on an increasing basis over the 12 years since the Local Summit was formed. He said this could be expanded and improved by the future creation of an intercommunity social agency task force that would plan agency joint ventures.

Supervisor O’Keeffe picked up on the theme of social agencies by congratulating the Hispanic Resource Center (HRC), an immigrant service agency in Mamaroneck Village, for handling the cases of 200 flood victims - immigrants and non- immigrants - after the disastrous spring floods. She said this helped bring the community together. She also said her human services department and that of Mamaroneck Village worked well with each other and with HRC during the floods.

The three municipal leaders agreed that even with intergovernmental cooperation, the broad issues involving local immigrants have been given only a band-aid. They believe local governments alone can’t substantively resolve the problems and that it may take a new national election to regularize the matter. Despite this, Supervisor O’Keeffe raised some hope. She said, “We can look at the workers at the MacDonald’s across the street and the landscapers in our yards and the people who keep house for residents and see how hard they work. I think these immigrants are going to do all right down the road.”

Increased Leverage from Joint Action

Mayor Feld said that one of the benefits of working together is the leverage and clout it provides. She cited the recent Westchester County grant for new playing fields in Larchmont, a $2.5 million program that was awarded because the three municipalities all supported it. Residents of all three communities will be able to use the fields.

She also said Larchmont is studying a promising municipal employee health benefit program model which, if it proves out, could be scaled up to include the two other municipalities and other Westchester communities.

State Assemblyman George Latimer, a long-time champion of local governments combining or sharing services, said that while there was much more to be done, the local municipalities could take a lot of pride in existing successes, such as the Tri-Municipal Human Rights Commission, the Tri-Municipal Cable Television Control Board, the Tri-Municipal Ambulance District and the Joint Water Works.

The Local Summit, which hosted the forum, is an informal community council that works to make the community a better place for everyone. It holds its regular public meeting at 7:45 am, on the third Tuesday of the month at the Nautilus Diner in Mamaroneck. Harold Wolfson is a member of the Local Summit Board.

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