Roads,
unquestionably, tie a community together. And no more striking example exists
of the division between city and county in this community, say Democrats in the
county legislature, than the lej’s decision to stop pavement-marking services
in the city.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s more evidence of the county
and the suburbs basically treating the city as a third-world country surrounded
by first-world communities,” says Democratic legislator Chris Wilmot.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Republicans say the move, in
actuality, ends special treatment for the city.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The county will no longer install
and maintain road markings like stop bars and crosswalks on certain city
streets. The cost-saving measure was approved in a vote straight down party
lines earlier this month. It was part of the Republican amendment to the county
budget.
The move
applies to streets qualifying as arterials — major thoroughfares like Winton Road and
Culver Road. The county will pay for pavement-marking services on Winton Road,
for example, when it travels through Brighton, but not for the portion of the
road in the city.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “As soon as you cross the city line,
you get disrepair,” says Democratic legislator Todd Bullard. “This doesn’t make
sense. It does not treat city taxpayers the way towns are treated.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The city will have to either do the
work itself, hire the county to do it, or hire an independent body. It will
cost the city approximately $208,000 in 2004.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s going to have a major impact,”
says city spokesperson Bridgette Burch White. “We have to really study the
impact because they made the decision without any input from the city.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s not the way you develop an era
of bipartisanship,” Bullard says.
All the vote
really means, Republicans argue, is that now everyone pays for their own
roads. The arterials are county-owned roads when they pass through the towns
— so, says the GOP, the county should pay. But when those same roads enter
the city, they become city-owned streets and, Republicans say, the city should
pay for them.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It puts them on an even keel with
how the towns are handled,” says Republican legislator Wayne Zyra, chair of the
lej’s Transportation Committee. “In the towns, the county naturally stripes its
own roads. When it comes to a town road, the town has to hire the county [or]
they could hire an independent striper to do the striping.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It’s not our intent to cripple the
city by any stretch of the imagination,” he says.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Not notifying the city ahead of time
was a timing issue, Zyra says. Republicans were rushing to get their amendment
together before a looming deadline.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Democrats argue that the same road
should be treated the same no matter which municipalities it happens to travel
through. If the county does the striping on Winton Road in Brighton, they say,
it should do the striping on Winton Road in the city.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “The same people use [it],” says
Democratic legislator Kevin Murray. “It’s just inequitable to pay for [it]
differently.”
More than 20
years ago, Murray
says, the lej took on responsibility for the arterial roads within city limits.
That included road reconstruction, paving, marking, and a whole package of
comprehensive services.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Over time, they were whittled
away,” he says. “This is just one more whittling away of the county’s
responsibility for roads. These are smaller amounts of dollars, but it’s drip,
drip, drip. It’s death by a thousand small cuts.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Murray’s recollection is backed up
by Ed Doherty, the city’s commissioner of environmental services.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “We’ve had a variety of different
levels of support over the years,” he says. “That level certainly has
diminished substantially.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The city roads in question, Murray
says, are arterials in every bit the same way county roads are. This latest
service reduction, he says, will hurt the community as a whole.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Not to be dramatic, but arterials,
the model is the blood system,” Murray says. “Just like the blood system is
veins and arteries that hold our bodies together, the arterials are the
lifeblood of our community. They’re what tie our community together, literally
and figuratively.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The county GOP, Murray says, seems
to look for ways to unload its problems on the city.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In addition to cutting
pavement-marking services, the county also cut funding for a number of city
programs in the 2004 budget, including its subsidy for the city school nurse
program.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “The city, being the poorest
municipality, is least able to afford these cuts,” Murray says. “It goes back
to whether you think we’re a unified community. Those things that hurt the
city, hurt the broader community.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “If we don’t take care of people who
are in poverty, we’re going to see an overflow of social problems,” he adds.
“Everything from crime to disorderly conduct, drugs, and everything else.”
This article appears in Dec 24-30, 2003.
