regionalism
Initiatives
The Promise of Trickle-Down Regional Benefits is Killing Dayton
Internet megastore Amazon is bringing a fulfillment center to the City of Union right next to the Dayton Airport, bringing in 1,500 jobs that will pay at least $15 an hour. This will be beneficial to the county and region, but these benefits are unlikely to trickle...
Thoughts on Unifying Dayton
We look possible mergers that could better unify the Dayton region. Riverside, Harrison Township, Trotwood, Moraine, and Oakwood are examined as candidates that would mutually benefit from merging with the city of Dayton. Fragmentation is the enemy of efficiency, which explains why governance in the Dayton region is so inefficient. Currently, it’s very unlikely that any of these mergers would occur because they would reduce the number of politicians, who will never vote themselves out of a job. The people are going to have to demand it.
Why Do We Have So Many Elected Officials?
By and large, Americans don’t care who their local officials are. At least, they’re not willing to do the requisite research necessary to even know who most of these people are or what their policies are. Most just vote based on the (D) or (R) next to a candidate’s name. During mid-term election years, the vast majority of voters do not even bother to show up at the polls. Yet around half the officials we vote for are local officials.
Back When Ohio was “The West,” Our Government was the Best
Champaign County, like most Ohio counties, is ideally structured for the default county government, as outline in the Ohio Constitution. Urban counties, such as Montgomery County, have municipalities that have extended into one another so this system of local government no longer makes sense.
A Tale of Two Cities: Unified Akron and Fragmented Dayton
The parallels between Akron and Dayton are interesting, astounding, and confounding. The cities have many statistical, geographical, and cultural similarities, but Summit County’s charter government has allowed Akron the flexibility to adapt to modern times while Dayton still operates like a horse-and-buggy town. The birthplace of flight remains grounded in the past.