Voters Believe Local Governments Should be Freed to Solve Joint Problems, Boost Local Economies.
Overwhelmingly, voters believe that local governments should be allowed and encouraged to work closer together. Voters recognize the need to coordinate to deliver quality basic services and on planning and development issues, including transportation, economic growth and the protection of open space. That is the finding of a statewide survey released by the Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania (RenewPA).
“Out-of-date laws limit cooperation between governments on basic and critical functions such as police, fire, planning and public works,” says Todd Vonderheid, director of strategy for RenewPA. “If local governments can’t work together, residents lose out and the results are aging infrastructure, declining services, higher taxes and lost opportunities.”
RenewPA conducted a poll of voters from across Pennsylvania in December and May 2006 to determine their preferences on fiscal, governance and public investment issues, and the results indicate strong support among voters for local governments coordinating on services, planning and development matters.
Click here for biographies of the principals involved in the survey.
Click here for the full surveys, conducted in May and December 2006.
Regional Reports
We have broken out the state-wide poll results into 8 regions in the state so you can see how your neighbors feel about intergovernmental cooperation.
Northwest Region - Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Potter Venango, Warren
Southwest Region - Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Washington, Westmoreland
Central Region - Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Somerset, Union
Northeast Region - Bradford, Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne, Wyoming
Keystone State Surveys Show Broad Support for Regional Resource-Sharing, April 9, 2007
"Written in the 1930's through the 1960's, local laws "could not have anticipated a world where people live in one municipality, work in another, go to school in another, shot in another and recreate in aother and who's elected officials are discouraged from talking to one another". For the complete Smart Growth Online news article, please
click here.
Voters Understand Economies of Scale, February 20, 2007
"Pride of place is a wonderful thing. It makes for strong communities. Now, it is an even better thing that most Pennsylvanians have come to understand the value of blurring local political boundary lines in order to produce better, more efficient government." For the complete Scranton Times-Tribune editorial, please
click here.
