Here’s another interesting item I found while scrounging around in old [Lansing] State Journals, this one from January 26, 1947. It’s a front page, leftmost column titled “By the Way.” (The main headlines that day were “Liquor Board Shakeup Seen” and, just under it, “‘Scarface’ Al Capone Dead,” and much as it is tempting to put the two together, they are unrelated events.)
Here is the column in its entirety:
Lansing city officials and aldermen who nave had long experience in municipal government affairs have about come to the conclusion that citizens are willing to pay more taxes if they receive a fair return in services they demand. The old logic of municipal authorities, which largely holds true today, is that the budget should be pared to the bone, so to speak, to keep taxes down and the taxpayers happy. However, with fast changing times this thought is rapidly giving way to a reversal of the old logic. Officials are finding that citizens demand only the best with cost a secondary matter. Prime example of the new thought trend is a demand for quick service by the public works department in clearing the streets of snow and caring for icy streets In winter months. The average citizen wants his street and sidewalk plowed out within a couple of hours after a snowfall. With present equipment this job takes from 24 to 36 or more hours. It is a physical impossibility to complete the work in less time. Budget-minded officials, seeking to save the taxpayer added costs, takes a “beating” in complaints from citizens. These questions therefore present themselves to the aldermen and department heads: Should several thousand dollars more be Invested in additional snow removal equipment which is used relatively few times during the year in this work? Would the taxpayer be willing to pay a little more to get this “deluxe super-service?” Officials think the citizens would pay more, but harbor the fear of scathing criticism which comes after Mr. Citizen gets his new tax bill. Such services cannot be added or enlarged without additional expense. Aldermen know this and hesitate to take any action until they know just “how much” each project will cost. Additional employes, maintenance and numerous other items must be considered, because these must be paid through future years. Small pressure groups have little success in “bulling” their pet projects through the city council, but city-wide sentiment favoring some particular service or project is sure to receive serious attention and most likely, favorable action by the aldermen.
I didn’t realize I was reading the news organ of Bizarro Lansing. “Citizens demand only the best with cost a secondary matter,” you say? That must be nice. More to the point of this blog, though, is this: “The average citizen wants his street and sidewalk plowed out within a couple of hours after a snowfall.” That evidently means that the city used to clear sidewalks instead of having a useless and nearly unenforced ordinance requiring residents to do it themselves (eventually). I now really want to know when that changed.
