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Letters Illinois' 6,626 local governments Editor: As director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA), I would like to dispute the impression conveyed in "No one paying attention to Illinois' 6,626 local governments" by the Illinois Commission on the Future of Public Service published in the "The Rostrum" (Illinois Issues January 1992). The Office of Local Government Management Services, located within DCCA's Bureau of Community Development, provides assistance daily to local officials throughout Illinois. From workshops that help local officials deal with the technical issues of government, to publications that explain the various local financing tools, to fact sheets that provide information on legal issues such as the Truth in Taxation Act, the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act, DCCA's staff is helping local officials achieve their goals. During fiscal year 1991, for example, the Office of Local Government Management Services conducted water rate studies for 42 communities, making recommendations that increased local revenues by an estimated $14.7 million. At the request of their officials, DCCA staff developed budgets for 16 communities to improve their internal management procedures and establish firm control over local revenues and expenditures. More than 41,000 fact sheets and publications were distributed to local governments, staff responded to more than 1,600 telephone inquiries from local officials, and the office conducted or provided speakers for 55 workshops attended by more than 4,400 local government officials. In addition, staff prepared a Legislative Report, detailing new legislation 10/April 1992/Illinois Issues affecting local governments, which was sent to nearly 3,000 local officials. Besides these services, the Office of Local Government Management Services serves as a sounding board for local governments. We evaluate the problems and determine if solutions can be found, either through administrative changes or through legislation. Although we agree that Illinois has a large number of local governments and that there are significant differences in their missions, forms and constituency, we clearly disagree that there is no one to "champion" solutions to their problems. In addition to the services that DCCA provides, there are numerous organizations that speak for local governments, including the Illinois Municipal League, the Township Officials of Illinois, the Illinois Association of County Board Members and Commissioners, the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts, the Illinois Association of Park Districts, the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools and dozens of councils of governments. The Office of Local Government Management Services is not new; in fact, prior to the DCCA's creation, the office was part of the old Department of Local Government Affairs. It is, therefore, baffling that no member of the Illinois Commission on the Future of Public Service contacted our staff during the course of the study. If they had, we would have gladly shared information from DCCA's many years of experience working with local governments.
Jan M. Grayson Editor: Regarding the January 1992 guest column, "No one paying attention to Illinois' 6,626 local governments," it is true that local governments, and especially the smaller ones, are increasingly faced with problems which their very size and number constrain them from solving. The column by the Illinois Commission on the Future of Public Service suggests such remedies as consolidations, more state involvement, and a stronger advocacy role for organizations of government professionals on behalf of local government. The column left unmentioned the answer to "smallness" which is most preferred by local governments themselves, namely, the use of municipal conferences, regional councils and joint action agencies. By whatever name, and often with little or no state assistance, multipurpose councils of local government are now engaged in everything from the joint purchasing of government supplies to the provision of training programs for elected officials and government employees. Some specialize in planning for infrastructure and services. These councils pool resources to meet needs which each government acting separately could not afford. Several of these organizations have become effective representatives in Springfield of their member governments — pooling their influence as well as their dollars. Though Illinois has spawned the greatest number of local governments, the state's recognition of and support for councils of government lags that of most other states. Instead, the state of Illinois has chosen to further complicate matters by establishing or sponsoring layers of overlapping and competing single-purpose agencies to service local needs. Since most of the latter organizations are expected to "help" local government in some direct or indirect way, it could be argued that too many people are paying attention to local government in Illinois — but with far less than optimum efficiency or effectiveness.
Lawrence B. Christmas Hispanic population and Chicago myths Editor: I read with great interest the article by David Fremon entitled "How first Hispanic congressional district remaps Chicago politics" (December 1991). While I respect Mr. Fremon's political analysis, there are a few factual inaccuracies and myths of Chicago's Latino population which I feel compelled to comment upon. Illinois' 1990 Hispanic population is 904,446, not 909,446. Also, the percentage growth for Illinois Hispanic population between 1980 and 1980 was 42.3 percent, and Chicago's Hispanic population grew 29 percent during that decade. It is a myth that West Town, Humboldt Park and Logan Square are "mainly Puerto Rican." 1990 census data indicate that of Hispanics who live in this area, 45.6 percent are Puerto Rican, 44.3 percent are Mexican, 1.3 percent are Cuban and 8.5 percent are other Hispanics. Further, as far back as 1986 the Latino Institute has indicated that "The Latinos in the northside ... have nearly a one-to-one ratio between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans." This was published in Al Filo/At The Cutting Edge: The Empowerment of Chicago's Latino Electorate. Since voter registration data is not compiled by Latino ethnicity, there is no clear evidence to indicate that Puerto Rican voters outnumber Mexican voters.
Sylvia Puente Readers: The author and editor regret any errors in statistical reporting. While there is no definitive study of voters by Latino ethnicity showing that Puerto Ricans outnumber Mexicans as Chicago voters, Hispanic groups, such as the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the Midwest Voters Registration and Education Project (MVREP), acknowledge that a greater percentage of Puerto Ricans turn out at the polls than Mexican Americans in Chicago. Voting patterns in Chicago's "Puerto Rican" 26th and 31st wards and "Mexican" 25th and 22nd wards seem to bear out this assumption. Editor Illinois tax structure Editor: The economic problems emphasized by Michael D. Klemens in "Legislative Action" and by Ellen M. Dran in "The Pulse" (Illinois Issues February 1992) seem to suggest that the Illinois Constitution should be amended to require a tax structure which will make it unnecessary to cut services simply and solely to save money. If the services are no longer needed, that is a good reason to cut them. If they are still needed, that is a good reason to raise taxes. It is sanctimonious hypocrisy to say that services must be cut because politicians promised not to raise taxes. The consequences of that can be so bad that it might actually be better to pass a law prohibiting politicians from promising not to raise taxes. That would save them from themselves, and the public from the consequences. As Adlai Stevenson pointed out, Gov. James Thompson lied when he promised not to raise taxes. Even President Bush has broken that promise, though he made it more emphatically than Thompson did. Now Gov. Jim Edgar may do even more harm by not breaking it. The only way out of this dilemma may be a referendum on whether taxes should be raised to avoid cutting services. Such a tax increase would not break any promises because it would not be the governor or the legislators who would be raising the taxes in that case. Since such problems never occurred under liberal administrations, there is an obvious clue here as to what the answer could be. There was high inflation under the Carter administration, but the tendency toward recession and depression began with Reaganomics and has gotten steadily worse. The high stock market means that the rich are getting richer, while cuts in human services assure that the poor will get poorer.
Kenneth J. Epstein Readers: Your comments on articles and columns are welcome. Please keep letters brief (250 words); we reserve the right to excerpt them so as many as space allows can be published. Send your letters to:
Caroline Gherardini, Editor
April 1992/Illinois Issues/11 |
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