Bring county government into the 21st century

THIS is the year we need to decide to reform Lucas County's obsolete government. Not next year, not in 2012, and certainly no later. Now.

This is the year to start to change not just county government's baffling organizational chart, but the fundamentals of the way the county works. Cosmetic fixes won't promote the economic development of the region or adequately protect the interests of taxpayers.

There is plenty of time between now and Election Day in November for county voters to consider carefully the merits of reform proposals. What's most urgent is to create and maintain the momentum for change, at a time when voters locally and nationally are expressing their disgust with status-quo politics.

We don't need a stacked, bloated panel to "study" county reform to death, go off on tangents, and finally conclude that everything is just swell the way it is. That's a sure way to strangle change, not advance it, and the go-slow advocates know that.

Lucas County's form of government, developed in the 19th century, doesn't work in the 21st century. Its three-member commission - or, more precisely, its two-member cartel - exercises both legislative and executive powers in a way that discourages normal checks and balances.

Other county elected officials, not to mention the array of separate county agencies and boards, function largely independently of the commission and each other. Such bureaucracy makes it nearly impossible to develop effective, centralized budget authority, wasting tax money and weakening the delivery of essential services.

The fragmented, redundant structure of county government obstructs public transparency. Quick quiz: Name the county's eight row offices and the people elected to hold them. How did you do?

Both of northern Ohio's other major urban counties, Cuyahoga (Cleveland) and Summit (Akron), have adopted county charters that provide for an elected executive, whose duties are similar to those of a city mayor. The charters also mandate a legislative council whose 11 members are elected by district rather than at large, ensuring that all areas of the county are represented equally.

The county executive appoints experienced professional administrators, subject to the council's approval, to perform the tasks that politicians handle here. Although Summit County maintains a few elected row offices, in Cuyahoga County only the prosecutor remains an elected official. Voters in both counties, unlike those of us in Lucas County, can recall elected officials.

Cuyahoga voters emphatically approved charter reform last year to take effect next year. They just as decisively rejected the study-commission smoke screen that incumbents and their political allies propose here.

Much of the pressure for reform in Cuyahoga came in response to the overt corruption in its county government. That isn't a problem in Lucas County, but change now could prevent it from becoming one.

Leaders in both Cuyahoga and Summit counties assert that government reform promotes economic growth and job creation by cutting red tape and advancing specific business-development efforts. They argue credibly that reform also saves money by enabling government to operate more flexibly. Do we want to cede those advantages to our competitors?

County reform here isn't a matter of reinventing the wheel. We can take the best practices of the Cuyahoga and Summit charters - the same gentleman wrote both of them - and adapt them to fit Lucas County's particular circumstances. It isn't rocket science, and it doesn't have to take years.

Nor is reform a partisan issue, although it's portrayed that way because all 11 of Lucas County's elected officials happen to be Democrats. True, a county council would have suburban districts that would tend to favor Republican candidates. Again, though, the point of reform is improving efficiency and accountability in county government, not perpetuating or redistributing political power.

It will be up to tens of thousands of Lucas County citizens to sign petitions if they want to vote on charter reform in November. Cuyahoga County's experience suggests that a successful reform effort requires the participation of a broad range of volunteers and interest groups - business, political, civic. Those voices need to be heard now.

If it bothers Republicans as much as they say it does that they're shut out of elective offices in Lucas County, let them get behind the reform effort.

At the same time, are there independent-minded Democrats who have aspirations for the county that go beyond protecting incumbent politicians in their party? Let them seize the moment too.

Suburban officials complain that county government doesn't fairly represent the interests of their communities. Some business executives say it can be hard to deal with county government. Civic activists say they want better government. Here's a way to work for the change they claim to seek.

Government reform is one of those eye-glazing topics that's easy to ignore. Thinking and talking about the way Lucas County does business isn't nearly as exciting as cheering Crystal Bowersox's ascent on American Idol or rooting for the Mud Hens to rally in the bottom of the ninth.

But county reform is about taxes and jobs and growth and the future of the place where we live. What could be more basic, or more worth supporting?

There will never be a better opportunity for change than we have right now. If we fail to pursue it, if we choose to take this summer off, we may not get another chance for a long time.

David Kushma is editor of The Blade.

Contact him at: dkushma@theblade.com