Another example of well-functioning goverment

Often when spring comes, many of the pipes on sidewalks for water-shut-off start rising up, providing an annoyance to runners and walkers.

At 8:49 this morning I sent the following message through the Duluth water and gas service website.

Spring has sprung, the ground heaves, and the water-turn-off pipes rise to trip the unwary walker.
Please add my address to your long list of tasks.

At 14:20 I sent the following message.

Thanks for the fast service on tamping down the water-shut-off pipe.  Another fine example of good government service.

If we really stop to think about it, there is a long list of government services at all levels that are provided efficiently and courtesy: Post Office, fire departments, Social Security, snowplowing, parks, and on and on.

I think the government bashing is mostly from those who don't want to pay taxes for any of the many services they receive.  They would rather provide these services themselves and make a profit from them.  How well, does the private sector perform?  Just consider all the problems you have with the device that you are using to read this.  How many help desks have provided prompt and correct answers?  Yes, you can find many corporations that provide quality products and services, but it often depends on management.  Good management is found in the public and private sectors.  Bad management is found in the public and private sectors.

Do we really need people who think like this?

“Why do we have state parks, city parks, county parks and regional parks?  Of course we value our parks and open spaces. It’s one of our great gems. But do we really need four different bureaucracies dealing with that?”
– Annette Meeks, CEO of the conservative Freedom Foundation of Minnesota and the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2010, quoted in "Minnesota budget standoff a battle over big-spending legacy", Duluth News Tribune, 2011-07-08.

I don't think Ms. Meeks understands that different levels of government serve different needs.  Do we want the county or state running Enger Park, the Rose Garden, or Chester Bowl?  We in Duluth would like to control our own parks.  Would the people of Hennepin County like the state to run its extensive park system?  I think they would want to determine how they are run.  Conversely, should Lake County control Gooseberry Falls when it is a treasure for people all over Minnesota.

Does she think that we shouldn't have four bureaucracies dealing with city streets, county roads, state highways, and the Interstate?  Each serves a different constituency.  Would she want a county deciding that an Interstate in the county should be a two-lane road?  Would she want the federal government deciding to put an eight-lane highway where her house is?

I think she is mixing "efficiency" (spending the least possible money) with "effectiveness" (meeting the needs of customers or citizens).