Newport needs to look at outsourcing

PHIL ARST

Does the city of Newport Beach have enough money to fund needed

projects for the needs of our residents and the protection of our

environment? Cleaning up the bay -- our most precious natural

resource -- and many other needs in the city, such as road

improvements, acquisition of land for parks and open space, and some

public safety issues are not being adequately funded. The city needs

to look for innovative ways to fund these needs.

At a recent City Council study session, it was proposed that the

city could save money by outsourcing unskilled tasks, such as park

maintenance and trash collection, to help make improvements for the

local benefit of city residents. However, the proposal to look into

outsourcing was rebuffed by the City Council. Councilman Tod Ridgeway

made the astonishing claim that “city government is more efficient

than the private sector,” without any proof to support such a

statement.

Let’s look at the facts to compare our efficiency to other Orange

Coast cities. The answer lies in a report issued by the League of

California Cities. Of the 34 Orange Coast cities, Newport Beach is

second only to Laguna Beach -- a beach city with one-third of our

population -- in staffing the highest number of government employees

per resident. Clearly, Newport Beach is lagging in outsourcing major

unskilled services and because of this, its employee-per-resident

ratio is very high compared to those cities that do choose to

outsource some city services, yet still manage to provide the same

quality of service as our city.

Does outsourcing pay off for cities? The only service fully

outsourced by Newport Beach is tree trimming. When started several

years ago, the city’s cost of doing its own trimming of approximately

$89 per tree was reduced to approximately $39 per tree. A tight

writing of requirements to the contractor has improved service

quality on a reduced budget, as trees are trimmed twice as often as

the now-reduced city budget would support if the city were still

doing the job.

Are other similar savings available? The City Council and city

staff do not want to know, as they refuse to get outside bids for all

other unskilled services. This “bury your head in the sand” method of

operating the city shows a lack of good management by the city staff

and needed oversight by the city council.

Now that we’ve established that the city does less outsourcing

than other Orange County cities and operates in the dark, instead of

managing in the most efficient manner available, we should examine

their next claim: that they are providing better service.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done because no polls exist to

support the city’s claim of better service in Newport or lesser

service in other Orange County cities. If nothing else, a poll could

inform the city of where it needs to provide better service or how it

could improve its services by learning from other cities.

Police and fire/paramedic services are excluded from my

recommended outsourcing list. We need to maintain tight control of

these public safety services. Remember, I’m advocating outsourcing

unskilled services, not essential highly skilled services.

Instead of taking the lead from other cities, offering employees

early retirement in order to help make the switch to outsourcing more

services and reduce the overall budget, the City Council sanctioned a

proposed increase in city government personnel for the coming year.

To top it off, they still claim that we need to spend $90 to $100

million over the next 30 years for a new city hall to house our

overflowing city staff, instead of reducing the number of city

employees and allocating those funds for needed improvements for the

residents.

It boils down to whether we want bay cleanup, improvements in our

road system, acquisition of needed open space and parkland and some

needed public safety improvements, or to remain without them by

continuing to operate in the dark. Competitive quotes and a shift to

possible outsourcing services are needed so that the city can spend

our tax dollars to remedy these deficiencies and others to produce

maximum benefits for the residents and our city.

* PHIL ARST is a consultant and community activist who is the

spokesman for the Greenlight Committee.