Is This What We Want? Really?

The fact that municipalities are the creation of the state and
the responsibility thereof is most succinctly stated in “Dillon’s
Rule.” The authority to create has, built in, the responsibility
for municipalities. This fact is proved by the example of the
state taking over the fiscally failed City of Detroit and running
it. But the fact that municipalities are unsupervised to the extent
that they can actually fail also demonstrates that the State of
Michigan doesn’t take that responsibility seriously until it is too
late. Crystal Falls is a local example of a city headed in that
direction, as well as the recent redirection of the City of Iron
River through the budgetary intervention of the new City
Manager.

The other shortcoming of the current scheme of “state control”
is the fact that as presently framed, audits fail to clearly show
a municipal government that’s headed for disaster.

With these facts as a backdrop, Iron County Doings decided to
take a look at the population of Iron County vis a vis the number
of municipalities in Iron County and the number of public officials
running things locally.

Pop    Officials    Municipality

 921            21    Bates Township
1743           17    Crystal Falls Township
  338           15    Hematite Township
1027           14    Iron River Township
  241           17    Mansfield Township
  656           18    Mastodon Township
1140           18    Stambaugh Township
  906           14    City of Caspian
1469           13    City of Crystal Falls
  347           14    City of Gaastra
3029           26    City of Iron River
  219             8    Village of Alpha

So we have a (county provided number) population of 12036
with 195 public officials at the township/village/city aspect. It is
too difficult, for the purposes of this simple exposition of a
significant problem, to determine all the additional Iron County
officials and DDA board members. And I haven’t even included
things like redundant school boards, redundant airports, libraries,
and the Windsor Center, that add to our tax burden.

Just with those listed above, there is a public official for every
62 people (includes men, women, and children) in the
township/city/village type municipalities. I’d wager a good cup
of coffee that by the time we add in all the other officials absent
from the census above we can expect that in reality there is
presently a public official for every 50 residents, or fewer, in Iron
County, Michigan.

That’s ridiculous!

The State of Michigan estimates the total population of Iron
County at 11,633 for the year 2009, the most recent data
available on the internet. 2,383 of those are under age 20, or
roughly 1/5th of the total population. Looking a bit further,
there are 751 in the age 15 through 19 class, but only 490 in the
age 0 through 4 class, indicating a significant predictable decline
in the overall population in the next 20 years. The greatest
number of people fall into the age 55 through 59 bracket,
comprising roughly 1038 individuals.

We have a total of 2383 children, that is individuals between
age 0 and age 19. I didn’t chose the age bracketing for the state
numbers, I’d have broken it into three year brackets, but we
have what we have.

But, if these trends continue as they appear in the population
estimates at the moment, the total population of Iron County 50
years from now will be well less than half the present number,
conservatively about 47%, in all probability the population
decline will be even worse. Assuming no change to the political
structure if Iron County, township/village/city officials will be
1 for every 28 residents.

And here I thought the present day circumstance absurd enough,
but look at the future we’re planning for our descendents, not
to mention the unnecessarily wasteful price we’re paying right
now!

I had urged Iron River Township to abandon the use of the
Township Hall and to rent those existing available facilities
conducive to conducting the business of the township. In the
long haul it would be much cheaper than what is presently
planned. Good grief, we’re only talking about a total of 1027
residents today, and less than half that in 50 years! Why on
earth is the township board investing increasingly difficult to
come by tax dollars in hardly used infrastructure? Can’t the
township board think of better places to spend those tax dollars?
I sure can, as can most of the township’s population! Iron River
Township doesn’t need regular meetings at this point, we badly
need a series of old fashioned New England style Town Hall
meetings with elected officials listening to and acting on the
recommendations they receive.

In the early 1980’s, when I first became interested in Iron County
and bought property here, the major topic of discussion was that
the furnace in Township Hall had a cracked heat exchanger, and
one, or some, members of the then township board wanted to
find someone to weld the heat exchanger because the township
didn’t have the money to buy a new furnace. It seems the more
things change, the more they stay the same. Is Iron River Township
Hall something the residents are proud of? It was built during days
when energy was so cheap it made no economic sense to provide
good insulation. It is inefficient and has absolutely no redeeming
architectural value. The basement, with a single exit, is a death trap
waiting to happen. It is unfit for human occupancy under any
circumstances, even for the servicing of the heating equipment.

Here’s a dose of much needed reality. None of the public officials in
Iron County have looked beyond the end of their nose. Each sees
favorite projects they would like to see achieved during their
typically one to three terms in office. But so far, not a single one
has looked at the big picture of where this county, and its population,
is heading. The population is declining at an alarming rate, a rate
that’s bound to increase because there are natural thresholds that,
once exceeded, trigger additional population decline. And we’re
headed in that direction.

Not a single local official has considered that we have far too
many municipalities, and far too many public officials, in Iron
County, Michigan. For a total population of 11633 (or less) we
don’t need more than one, count them 1, municipal government
to service all the needs of such a small population. Just like for
2383 children total in Iron County today, headed to be roughly
½ in less than 20 years, we don’t need any more than one, count
them 1, school district. And we certainly didn’t need the grant
money “improvements” in the Forest Park school district that we
recently implemented. That money, at least the parts to make life
more pleasant for the janitorial staff who are already well paid,
could have been much better spent, perhaps on more civics
education that’s an improvement very clearly needed in Iron
County. Perhaps the elected officials could attend an adult
education version of such classes. But wait, we have no adult
education locally because the money is being wasted.

What is this insanity anyway? Just because all these 13
municipalities in Iron County today, multiple libraries, a road
commission, and multiple school districts, were organized when
Iron County was economically expanding doesn’t mean we
need to be saddled with the no longer possible dreams of
growth from the last century and pay through the nose for
services and infrastructure we don’t need! There are things
we do need. Things like reasonable roads, and sufficient
economic growth to sustain the existing population before we
become another Appalachia. We need transportation services
for our aging population. The needs list is nearly endless, with
a zero response.

What we need badly, and very quickly, is a county wide master
plan to reorganize the political structure in this county. Surely the
greedy among the politicos will resist such a change because too
few positions of power will be easily available to them. It seems
to me that if they invested their time into economic growth
initiatives instead of local politics, they would achieve even
greater clout in the community than they presently experience.

So do we do continue as we are, wasting tax monies? Or do we
bite down on the hardest job of all, and reorganize Iron County as
a model of efficiency and service to the people who live here?
Freeing up the money presently wasted on too many municipalities
and public officials could make life in Iron County much better for
everyone living here.

Bill Vajk