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One of the criticisms that arose in our final Wire dialogue was that Simon might be a bit overly biased against change. The safety net really does benefit from Democratic governance, and good police work actually can make a difference. In comments, Mid-Level Manager backs us up:
I work in Juvenile Services in the real Baltimore, and I will confirm that having a Dem in Annapolis really has un-stuck some of the clogged institutional arteries. There is a much better environment of cooperation between city police and State agencies on approaches to youth violence strategies, etc. Also, as someone who has worked in bureaucracies under many an incompetent Valcheck, I have been quite impressed with the appointments O'Malley has made as Governor, which are much more towards the Daniels end of the spectrum.I think also a lot of Simon/Burns take on Baltimore street realities is based on their experiences from the 80's and 90's. Things are changing: Drug dealing crews are now affiliated with national gangs rather than being just local enterprises. So far in 2008 the murder rate is down significantly, and I wonder if a more organized and less feudal structure may be the cause.So the co-op gave way to the corporation? That would make sense. Eventually, you'd expect that the suppliers, many of whom are running international organizations, would get tired of dealing with these homegrown amateurs and would attempt some vertical integration. As for the bureaucracy, governance matters. James Lee Witt's FEMA was far better than Michael Brown's. The Veteran's Health Administration was utterly, and enduringly, transformed in the 90s. Public management is important, and one of the real problems with ambitious ideas for government is that, in America, the bureaucracy often doesn't get enough attention or talent. That's why Obama's belief that he "can make government cool again" is important. At least he's thinking about it.
