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The topic of regional governance surfaces from time to time on Columbus Underground as we discuss various issues, but I thought I'd bring it back up again today. The Columbus Metropolitan Club hosted an event this afternoon with guest speaker Robert Liberty from the Portland Metro Council (pre-event interview here) where he went into some detail about "Metro" and how they operate:
"It’s a regional government that is overseen by an elected council. It’s not a general purpose government… it has particular functions. It has 25 cities within its boundaries and unincorporated areas from three counties. Its responsibilities are solid waste and recycling, we own, operate or manage regional facilities like the Convention Center, the Oregon Zoo, the Expo Center, the Portland Center for Performing Arts, and we have a 10,000 acre open space and parks system that’s growing because the voters have funded us to expand it. We also adopt urban growth boundary and regional framework plans and regional transportation plans."
I found this to be an extremely interesting discussion today, as Columbus currently has many similar regional entities that are funded by only a portion of the region (usually just by Franklin County). Our Zoo, COTA, SWACO, and Metro Parks are all primarily funded by Franklin County (pop 1.1M) although their service area extends to our entire metropolitan area (pop 1.9M). I thought it was equally interesting to see the folks in attendance at this event, which included leadership at MORPC, Franklin County, Experience Columbus, ODOT, as well as representatives from a variety of suburban and regional communities. I'm wondering if today's discussion could have planted some seeds that we may see mature into a new push for a more regional approach to solving some of the issues we face that go beyond the man-made borders of cities, townships or counties.
What do folks here think about exploring a new regional governing body to oversee a more balanced regional tax collection and service distribution model similar to what Porland (and other areas) have done?
Could implementing a similar type of Metro Council here be beneficial for improving our services provided to the region and have a positive impact on our quality of life?
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