Inside USA - Privatised cities - 17 Oct 08 - Part 1

When the government of the city of Sandy Springs in Georgia decided to bring in a multinational corporation to run all of the city's services - with the exception of police and firefighting - it effectively became the first fully privatized city in the world.

It's a trend that is already spreading fast, with four new cities launched in the last three years, all of them run by the same company, defence contractors CH2M Hill.

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• privatisation
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[2204Alpha]

Funny how Sandy Springs has saved millions by doing this, this reported thinks government is the answer to everything.

This city also has a large Hispanic population, this isnt some white mecca, it borders the City of Atlanta.

The citizens of this city WANT privatized services (with the exception of police and fire).

This is a good idea and its obviously worked.

[LibertarianINT]

The poor areas in Fulton County are government operated. If the government can and will do the best for the citizens, it would not be so. Is it truly racism? Is it not just a coincidence, or, a correlation that the well off areas adopt free market principles while the poorer areas don't? Detroit has been under progressive rule and has only gotten progressively worse. It's about time problems stopped being chalked up to racism. If I blamed everything on racism, I'd have no drive.

[eddie1481]

The taxes collected in the special service tax district should have always stayed in the areas it was collected. There are several "general fund" projects that have been created with no thought of the north side residents. The wolf creek amphitheater is a prime example. Some of the general fund expenditures should make some of the north side taxpayers a little upset. I would challenge anyone that reads this to look a few of the high dollar general fund items up. 

[eddie1481]

The taxes lost from these cities forming was from the "special tax district" This tax is collected from the citizens of all the unincorporated areas of the county. It is meant to pay for police, fire, roads, and all other government provided services. This is the tax that Fulton County lost from these areas. The money that was collected for this area was being shipped to south Fulton. This was not the only answer, but it is a solution to a problem that has been ongoing for years.

[CNCAddict]

@2204Alpha Why stop at fire and police? Those can be privatized just as well, imagine how great the police would behave if they could actually lose their job, and not get "paid vacation" when they shoot someone.

[biblefarce]

I support Sandy Spr. I am sick of black dems always looking at what the racial component of something is. I am black and support outsourcing. Yes it comes with problems,but its worth a try.

[Wilsontheterrible]

@zammmerjammer Governments taken responsibility out of the equation. Its created an environment that befits those that match its interests and the results are pseudo-governmental corporations like Fannie and Freddie that have wrecked the system for everybody. Corporations, under normal market conditions, obey the laws of supply, demand, and interest and exist at the whim of the consumer. Thanks to the free money provided by the Fed and the bailouts from DC the rules that should reign dont exist.

[zammmerjammer]

@Wilsontheterrible Right. Because corporations are such shining examples of "taking responsibility" when they fuck up, as they regularly do. Wildly profitable corporations should not be getting tax breaks and public subsidies when they behave with ZERO responsibility.

Corporations only have accountability to their shareholders and to the bottom line, not the citizens of the communities in which they operate. When they actually operate a community itself to whom are they responsible?

[zammmerjammer]

@swedenowns1 The countries in Africa are "like that" (I'm assuming you're not referring to the African countries that are actually doing well, like Botswana, because, no doubt, you've never heard of those) because of colonialism, neo-colonialism, poverty, ethnic nationalism, and AIDS.

American Evangelical assholes going over there to spread their ignorance and homophobia isn't helping the continent much either.

[zammmerjammer]

@swedenowns1 When you grow up in a subjugated minority group, provided with few positive role models, in the poor part of town, where you have little access to resources like books and decent food, the odds of your escaping poverty and crime are SEVERELY reduced. Look up Jane Elliott's blue eyes/brown eyes experiment -- when normally bright & happy children are placed in a subordinate group they underperform IMMEDIATELY, not in a week or a year.

[Wilsontheterrible]

@zammmerjammer You mean the government backed corporations that should have been left to liquidate? Cut subsidies, privatize, and decentralize. Sandy Springs is a success but it's only one step in what needs to be a much larger effort to get away from government dependency and put responsibility back on the shoulders of individuals.

[swedenowns1]

@zammmerjammer The blacks were opressed and all that but is that a reason why blacks children of today are stupid

Its not that they go to poor schools, is that few of them get good grades no matter where thy study

Blacks are worse, just look at africa and domnt tell me all the countries in africa are like that because of slavery