A Shove Toward Regionalization

Sometimes even good ideas need to be forced, and in the case of regionalization of government services, budget problems might finally be pushing forward the idea.

Most famously in Fitchburg, Police Chief Robert DeMoura is pushing for regionalized dispatch services. The goal is to get some of the nine officers put into dispatch shifts back on to the streets. Of course, DeMoura is losing patrol officers due to budget cuts, so the idea of regionalizing gains new urgency due to limited resources.

We've talked about regionalization in the past here, and I'm going to maintain my cynical "I'll believe it when I see it stance." It's an idea that has been kicked around without progress for far too long to get all geeked up about it happening. I don't know if it's inbred parochialism, an inability to get a near-deal finished, or something else. All I know is that whether it's sharing dispatchers, snow salt, or school bus contracts, the history of regionalization ideas end up in the dumper when it's all said and done.

That said, I'm hanging some hopes on this gaining traction because of the money situation. Desperate times, desperate measures, and all that. I know there's a lot of internal stuff that goes into figuring all this out, but if the current situation isn't enough motivation to make something happen, I'm not really sure what will be.