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You see, for all the barbs and jeers government workers get, it’d be a much different, less convenient world without the likes of local, state and federal employees.
That’s why a new study group charged with looking at a four-day workweek is both a provocative and a sad idea.
Provocative because it’s an outside-the-box approach to cutting costs at the county level. Let’s face it, counties around the state were done few favors by the Legislature and the governor when they decided to pass along required mandates, fewer dollars and then — for good measure — told counties they couldn’t increase taxes in order to meet the increased workload.
This little bit of legislative trickery has meant Winona County, along with many others, have only one choice — slash services. With gas prices high, with more state mandated requirements and less money, the only thing left is cutting services and programs that residents of the county have come to rely upon and expect.
Considering a four-day week may be a good idea. It’s certainly worth considering because it’s a way of cutting back on services without losing them completely. And a four-day workweek may mean the county gets to save money on things like gas, heating and cooling, rather than having to cut salaries, which only worsens the local economic picture.
But there’s a good piece of financial advice that goes something like, “You can’t cut your way to prosperity.”
Yet that’s exactly what short-sighted politicians have forced the counties to do.
From another angle, a four-day workweek is sad. It’s sad that we have to rely upon what is almost a part-time government. Our needs haven’t changed, but our attitude has. Not only ours, but those making the decisions in St. Paul. Living without for people with plenty means next to nothing.
But the folks making these decisions often don’t have the need for county social services, they don’t need to rely on the courts being open, they don’t have business at the government center. For them, four days a week would amount to nothing more than inconvenience.
What has changed is not the economy — money is still out there, even if it hurts a little more to part with it.
What has changed is what we expect from our government. We want services, but we don’t want to pay for them. We want police and fire protection as long as it means not a cent more.
What has changed is that we’d rather do without government — do without courts, do without better roads, make do with higher college costs and crumbling schools — rather than pay a little for the common good.
We’ve starved the system and it’s given us courts that close, bridges that rust and jail that won’t lock.
Obviously, we’ve gotten what we’ve paid for.
By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, call 453-3507 or send e-mail to letters@winonadailynews.com.
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