It was July 4th weekend of an already long hot summer and I was desperate to get away. All the good spots were already taken. We chose a Forest Service campground in Ojai, California. While the grownups set up the tent, the kids chased squirrels all around the campground -- and there were a lot of aggressive squirrels. When we paid for the site -- about $20, where I was used to paying $10 to the state or the National Park Service, we learned that the site was being managed by a private company in a public-private partnership. We cooked hot dogs, roasted marshmallows, and fell asleep.
The following morning, I led us on a hike. The campground map showed two trails, one starting near our campsite and the other a "nature trail" closer to the campground entrance. The one near our campsite was hopelessly overgrown. It hadn't been weeded since the last winter's rains. After a mile of bushwhacking, we turned back to try the nature trail instead. At the nature trail, we found a cardboard sign, only a few days old and hastily shoved out of sight: "Campground closed due to bubonic plague."
Three days later, my toddler awoke with a high fever.
Every time I hear about a "public-private partnership" (P3) involving public lands, I flash back to that campground. The P3 is is more common than the other method of getting rid of public lands, outright sales.
Usually the partnership is announced with much fanfare, smug Republican officials, and declarations to the effect that it's a win-win for taxpayers and private enterprise, etc., ad nauseam. Yesterday the AP reported that Cash-strapped states weigh selling roads, parks.
GOP lawmakers are pushing to privatize the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the state lottery. Both steps require a higher authority — federal legislation in the case of the airport, a voter-approved constitutional amendment for the lottery. But one lawmaker estimated an airport deal could bring in at least $2.5 billion, and the lottery $500 million.
Massachusetts lawmakers are considering putting the Massachusetts Turnpike in private hands. That could bring in upfront money to help with a $1.4 billion deficit, while also saving on highway operating costs.
In New York, Democratic Gov. David Paterson appointed a commission to look into leasing state assets, including the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City, the lottery, golf courses, toll roads, parks and beaches. Recommendations are expected next month.
Public-private partnerships do not work. The private partner/operator's motive is to make money irrespective of the public trust. Services, whether they be smoothly functioning roads or well kept hiking trails, decline. Fees, whether they be for golfing or camping, increase. And, when the private operator determines that it can't make enough money, it comes back to the public again, asking for a bailout.
In congested-and-conservative Orange County, California, toll roads were originally seen as the greatest invention since a user fee on sliced bread, but experience has shown that it's a disaster. A Canadian union studying British Columbia public-private partnerships has concluded that
P3s are being aggressively pursued in BC in spite of a lack of evidence that they are a superior option.
P3s are less cost-effective, timely and transparent than traditional government procurement.
Partnerships BC, whose mandate is both to promote P3s and evaluate whether they are appropriate for use on specific projects, cannot adequately protect the public
interest
In my beloved Yosemite (yes! it's mine! I own one-three-hundred-millionth part of it, and my bit is somewhere by Waterwheel Falls above Tuolumne Meadows), some free market ideologue in Washington went into a P3 with Kodak. Upon entering the park, usually one is given a hiking trail brochure. Recently, however, one is handed a booklet describing roads to be driven (next to ads for RVs), photographs to be taken, and shopping and dining opportunities.
Outright sales of public lands are as bad. Currently, Minnesota is considering some outright sales:
some public properties belong in private hands, such as Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort, a top-rated getaway in Biwabik, and Ironworld, a museum and library in Chisholm. Both are owned and subsidized by Iron Range Resources, a state agency.
Because outright sales of lands purchased by the people, for use by all of the people, is a betrayal of the public trust, P3s are easier to present to the people, and thus more commonly used. Look for more P3s in 2009.
There was a happy ending to my personal story. My toddler did not have bubonic plague, as the doctor assured me after I told her that I was not leaving her office until she could state with medical certainty that it wasn't the plague. And I stick to NPS and state campgrounds.