i would agree with all of what m. hohman from the 13th ward says though in theory i am not opposed to regional governance and planning. my caveat would be that we get rid of local governments at that point. we have enough layers of government already without adding anymore. each time we come up with some new supercalifragilistic idea for better government it costs us more money. one area i think we might use regionality at present is as a sort of central purchasing agency that distributes services to participating municipalities. a case in point: watching the news the other night hoping for mention of the mayors boring budget address i saw an item that showed our vaunted police dept's newest war toy: a remote controlled robot to handle the numerous pipe bombs detected all over the city. now, who am i to say there should not be a robot. we certainly wouldn't want to have danger be an element of a policeman's job but wouldn't it make sense if something as little used as a robot be purchased by a regional authority and dispatched as needed to various municipalities. now maybe none of the other departments have a robot but it sure wouldn't surprise me if one or two didn't own a robot as well. how about a central armory for the city's supply of riot gear, guns, tanks, battering rams, sams etc. i cannot believe i am even writing this. i so don't believe in police departments acting like armies. oh god, what have we come to? tim connolly ward 7 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Get organized for the holidays! http://calendar.yahoo.com/