The Daily Bulletin yesterday reported that the cities of Claremont, La Verne, and Pomona were in preliminary discussions for sharing such things as jail facilities, communication systems, gun ranges, and other police resources.
We here at the Insider have pitched the idea of joint projects before. For smaller cities like Claremont or La Verne, they can reduce costs by spreading the costs of large-scale projects. Of course, if they're mismanaged they can also self-destruct (see Tri-City Mental Health).
Some sticking points come to mind. For example, how would the costs and resources be shared? Pomona has a 2006 estimated population of over 154,000, while Claremont has around 35,000 and La Verne about 33,000. Would construction and maintenance costs be weighted by the cities' respective population and crime rates?
The Bulletin article noted that both La Verne and Claremont may have some problems figuring out the financing of any joint project:
[La Verne] City Hall commissioned a poll that gauged public support for a bond measure at about 60 percent, short of the two-thirds vote needed for approval.
City officials haven't decided whether to place a bond measure on the ballot. It would go to a vote in 2009 at the earliest.
Claremont also seeks to build a new police station, though an appropriate site has not been found.
Money for the project would come from a bond or a similar measure because city reserves aren't large enough to fund construction of a new station.
Financing concerns aside, it's good to see the three cities working together instead of against each other. Public financing in the form of grants and bond money figures to be hard to get in the near term, given the effects of a tightening credit market and the impact on taxpayers' pocket books and on tax revenues.
Let's hope they keep trying to think outside the box.
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