THE POWER OF 32

FORGET THE POWER OF 32; LET’S MOVE AHEAD WITH THE POWER OF WASHINGTON COUNTY

The Power of 32 initiative seeks to revitalize “32 Counties in 4 States with 1 vision.”  It encompasses an area of 17,380 square miles with a population of over 4 million, including Washington County.  It is yet another example of a regional planning effort armed with eager young staffers, flip charts full of notes from local meetings and no place to go.  The Power of 32 has an impressive list of “partners”, almost all from Allegheny County.  Its 3.1 million dollar budget is funded by Pittsburgh foundations.  The goals are rather general and imprecise: create a shared vision; instill a sense of realistic optimism; inspire cross section leadership; connect people, communities and institutions.  Participants who attended local meetings were asked to share their views on challenges and goals.

            I attended a Power of 32 meeting in Washington and have followed their project online.  Nothing I have heard or read leads me to conclude that it will achieve any significant result that would actually make a difference.

 Getting a Somerset County farmer to find common ground with a Pittsburgh urbanite would be the impossible dream under the best of circumstances.  The wants and needs are too divergent. The political and community institutions have nothing in common. If there were one overriding issue that affected the region as a whole, perhaps the differences could be overcome to achieve a “win-win” for all 32 counties.  No such issue is readily apparent or in my view is being sought by the project.

            Where could 3 million dollars be spent to insure “the region’s best future”? How could these funds be spent to achieve “results” and not simply “optimism”? The answer is a focused and manageable project in Washington County.  Concentrate the resources in one political unit, where decisions can actually be made and deliverables achieved.  Instead of a glossy report that gathers dust on the corner of elected officials in 32 Counties in four States, a Washington County pilot project could achieve one or more of the following:

·         Develop and implement a detailed plan for Unigov (the Indianapolis Indiana model) in Washington County under which the City and County governments are consolidated into one political unit. Someone has to be the starter on this transition to save all of our cities/county seats, including Pittsburgh from going bankrupt and impeding our growth.

·         As part of the consolidation, work out and implement a plan to shrink the number of political units in Washington County, to combine functions and save money.  Address the sub issues of pensions, school districts and revenue sharing.

·         Develop and implement a detailed plan, to protect our natural resources while exploiting the gas fields and creating jobs.  These competing quality of life issues are on everyone’s agenda in the region.  Washington County is in the ideal position to find the answers by doing rather than studying.

·         Develop and implement a detailed plan to make our region a destination for recreation, vacations and retirement and pilot it in Washington County.  The pieces are already in place.  All that is needed is the appropriate media and funds to get the message out.

It is never easy to be the guinea pig on projects as momentous as outlined above.  If Washington County has the foresight to request foundation funds and the courage to change, we could lead the region into the next century with a work in progress rather than another plan.