GRAND RAPIDS - Leaders of the largest cities around Grand Rapids are considering consolidation plans to better deliver municipal services like police, fire and public works.
"It's what the taxpayers are wanting, it's what the taxpayers should demand," said Don Stypula, executive director of the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council.
Stypula says the cities of Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Walker, Kentwood, Grandville and East Grand Rapids are discussing ways to work together.
He says citizens do not care what fire department comes to their burning home - just that the crew arrives on time.
That is what Stypula and city leaders are discussing now, measuring ways to ensure equity and quality.
He says greater Grand Rapids will "just... go ahead and experiment on our own" in these efforts to create "a metropolitan response."
Greg Sundstrom, Grand Rapids' city manager, said Friday the consolidation discussions underway now "will shock you at the level, the magnitude of regional consolidation we're looking at."
Richard Root, Kentwood's mayor, said Monday: "If you consolidate, you eliminate a certain amount of overhead. Is it important to have a Kentwood police car or is it important to have a police officer?"
Stypula predicts the consolidations that start in West Michigan will spread statewide, byproducts of an historic recession that's brought declining tax revenues and falling property values.
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