Wednesday, May 15, 2002
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Wednesday, May 15, 2002 |
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Publicly-paid consultants usually waste tax money A consultant has oftentimes been described as a fellow who would borrow your watch to tell you the time, and then ask to keep the watch in payment for his services. There's some truth in that. Consultants will often survey employees in a workplace, glean a bunch of good ideas and suggestions, and then write a fancy report where they pass off the employees' ideas as their own. The more clever consultants then go on to another business pretty much like the first one, and then basically sell the same report a second time, making sure they switch the client names. Sometimes they don't even do that right. Now, who would pay a consultant to do that? The answer is, someone who is not footing the bill himself, like a corporate or government official. One advantage of using a consultant is that you can often blame him when some things don't work out later. Some people have real hard-earned skills, such as qualified professionals, engineers or scientists who can offer their own advice, born of knowledge and experience, and not based on surveys. I worry a lot about consultants who rely on surveys for their advice. I worry even more at times like this, on the eve of summer elections, where consultants can make political contributions to the very people who hire them for their consulting services. My remarks are inspired by a short AJC article, on May 8, where it is reported that an Alpharetta consultant had made a pitch to Henry County for conducting a survey to determine the concerns of that county's residents. The consultant proposed surveying 8,000 to 10,000 residents by mail, e-mail, phone and a website. There would be meetings to discuss the results and offer ideas for implementation. All that for $24,500 plus mailing expenses of about $6,000. Henry County reportedly didn't bite. At least, it hasn't yet. The reason we elect people to public office is so they will represent us. They're supposed to take our phone calls, mail or e-mail, and acquaint themselves with how we feel about things. They now have websites to keep us informed, and we still have newspapers to keep communications flowing both ways. That's the survey, and it is an ongoing process. I am not pleased with the Recreation Needs Assessment Survey that's just been distributed throughout Fayette County, and we've seen over the last year how the tax equity consultant's report brought on more heat than light. The consultant's very name sounded like a Republican slogan: Governmental Solutions Limited. Indeed. The county also had an insurance consultant, a few years ago, who held some Republican party office and who was finally given the boot. A lot of these people shouldn't be hired to start with. Here's my suggestion, and it's free. In fact, not only is it free, it will save the people of Henry County about $30,000. Folks of Henry County, if you have concerns, just phone up one of your county commissioners and give him a piece of your mind. That's what he's paid for. Henry County commissioners, if you want to hear the concerns of your constituents, let your local paper publish your phone number and e-mail address, and invite the public to let you hear from them. It'll work every time. It would work in Fayette County, too. Claude Y. Paquin Fayetteville cypaquin@msn.com
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