A few days ago at the 2010 State of the City Address, Mayor Ron Littlefield pushed the door open a little further to the idea of "consolidating services". (That's a new way of saying "Going Metro", similar to calling a used car a "pre-titled vehicle" in order to make it both more appealing and avoid stigmas. I love America.)

He's being open about the discussion instead of trying to backdoor it piecemeal, and I respect that whether or not I agree with it.

In response today, Sheriff Jim Hammond said that he feels very strongly that the Sheriff's Department (office) should be the lead agency after taking umbrage to the mayor's opinion that the Chattanooga Police set the standard for law enforcement instead of his own people. As the agency head, I am proud of him sticking up for the true quality of his men and women, and from first-hand experience I agree with him completely: "There is not a dime's worth of difference between the Sheriff's Department and the Chattanooga Police Department in professionalism and training." I voted for you, Mr. Hammond. Thank you.

That said, I find it disappointing that the subject immediately descended into "who should be the boss" without any review of facts, opinions or logistics. Whether we consolidate or not, this should be a business decision made for the people, not a turf war made by egos.

I am sick and tired of feeling like a politician’s cat toy instead of a citizen simply looking for the best bang for my tax bucks.

Let me put a few numbers on the board to give you an idea of things to consider before knee jerk reactions are made by our elected and appointed leaders.

As of 2005, Hamilton County had a population of 311,000 people (excluding a population of several thousand illegal immigrants; this isn't a political point, because as a cop I'm not allowed to care one way or the other. Illegals simply require being Protected and Served like everyone else, so they apply to this discussion).

Now, the city of Chattanooga occupies only 25% of the land mass of Hamilton County, yet as of 2008 over 170,000 people live inside the city limits. That's 55% of the county’s population crammed into one quarter of the space, and that is what the Chattanooga Police Department is required to police (and I didn't even add in the aforementioned thousands of illegals in the city limits). That leaves the sheriff's experience limited to dealing with less than half the people spread out over an area three times larger than the city, and without nearly the concentration of violent crime, white collar crime, or even traffic flow. From a business standpoint, which employee would you hire to operate the safety business in Hamilton County?

On the other hand, let’s look at other consolidation experiences such as the city/county schools merger. Without laughing out loud, I'll just say that the proposed savings touted by its early proponents still haven't exactly materialized. I attribute that to remarkably stupid business decisions such as bloated central office staffing, bloated salaries, and mandated busing from one side of the county to the other (literally) since the government knows that communities that chose to live together certainly cannot have their children being educated together. But the lesson still applies.

I consider the city/county EMS merger a success, and thus far the consolidation of 911 operators appears to be a model of success despite the number of agencies involved and the logistical nightmare of mixed pension and health care plans of its employees, but it 'can' be done. 'If' it's done, that is, by mature public servants instead of egos defending petty fiefdoms.

The citizens of this country (and county, and city) are finally growing tired of being treated like spoon-fed idiots. Keep this simple: Would consolidation of anything hurt, or help? Let’s identify the problems, look at what we have to work with, and just fix it with the resources at hand. Entering into the discussion by grabbing your toys and just saying "Mine!" is no longer acceptable.

Don't sit at the table with your arms crossed like a petulant child. Sit there like an adult trying to fix a very real problem.

This is a discussion for people far more intelligent and far beyond my pay grade, but speaking as a taxpaying resident, until recently a business owner, a parent, and someone with a first-person view of crime in Hamilton County as opposed to numbers from a Google search, I feel qualified to at least express my thoughts. (Pay careful attention, and you'll even notice that I didn't take a side. I'm just trying to promote a little selfless and unbiased logical thought here to fix existing problems instead of enabling failing systems. Crazy, I know.)

It's time to change the business model, folks. I, for one, am getting tired of supporting the same broken systems. Get your egos out, and your brains in. Taking your own best interests out of the decision making process can work. Trust me.

C.W. Joel
Hamilton County, Tennessee