Historical Summer 2017 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
I have two themes to address today.
The events of recent days in our nation’s capital seem to illustrate the maxim that I taught for many years, namely government can’t be run like a business. Or, as Graham Allison put it, they are alike in unimportant respects.
The success or failure of a business can be gauged by examining a profit-loss statement; government does not produce a product for the market.
The size of a bureau’s budget is a surrogate gauge.
The rules take over behavior, not sales. Remedies to improve performance in the private sector fail when applied to government (Zero-Based Budgeting, Management by Objectives, etc.) A successful business person could be like a duck out of water when he or she moves into a position of governmental leadership. Yet, in this country, our heroes have frequently been from the business world. Elected officials are disparaged. Government is the problem, according to President Reagan.
This is all open to debate of course but we now are able to see how someone with no experience can fare in the Oval Office.
We need to move beyond the myths guiding our perceptions of both government and business and understand how structure affects both. New topic: Proposals are being floated which would raise the monthly fee for garbage pick-up.
If you don’t want to see this bill going up too much, RECYCLE!
It costs far less for the city to dispose of recyclables than it does the trash from the trash dumpster which goes in a land fill.
If you don’t care about the planet, think about your pocketbook. Go to stlouisrecycles on the web.
The do’s and dont’s are clearly displayed: no plastic bags in the bin and break down your boxes.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Summer 2017.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2017_06.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
