Detroit and Tyler: cities in contrast

Published 7:48 pm Saturday, July 27, 2013

Detroit’s announcement last week it will seek protection from its creditors in bankruptcy court can be — and really should be —seen as an indictment of the principles that guide liberal governance, such as central economic planning and deference to unions.

But it also should be seen as an opportunity to consider why the same thing won’t happen here in Tyler. It’s not just that we have a better class of political officials (we demonstrably do). It’s not that we live in a region that leans Republican (city elections aren’t decided along party divisions).

It’s that forward-thinking city officials in Tyler’s recent past set clear goals and took concrete steps to eliminate debt, while at the same time increasing transparency.

They said, “We’ll work to get the city out of debt, and you can check up on us.”

Think about that combination — goal-setting and accountability. It could have saved Detroit, if it had been tried in the last half-century.

Here’s how it worked in Tyler: In 1995, the city of Tyler’s leaders went to the public with a bold plan. If voters would approve a half-cent sales tax increase, city officials would use the funds to lower property taxes and pay off debt. Officials also pledged to pay for capital improvements with cash.

It took careful budgeting and having to say “no” to lots and lots of worthy projects, but on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, the city of Tyler paid off its last general obligation bonds.

Then-Mayor Kevin Eltife also was (and still is) passionate about accountability. He knew that making clear promises was only part of the task; keeping those promises would require both diligence and oversight.

As he and those who followed took steps to put the city’s ledgers, contracts and business dealings before the public, the city started to gain recognition for those efforts.

For several years now, the Texas Municipal League has awarded the city of Tyler for its efforts toward more and more transparency. So has the Texas Comptroller’s office.

In 2009, for example, a Texas Comptroller report said Tyler “is the only large city in Texas that posts its annual budget, check register and comprehensive annual financial reports online for all to see.”

As Mayor Barbara Bass noted upon receiving the award from that office, “Citizens are even more interested in how their tax dollars are being spent in these tighter financial times.”

She’s right.

Compare the city of Tyler’s practices to the cronyism, corruption and back-room dealing rampant in Detroit. It’s not hard to see why people leave Detroit, and why Tyler continues to expand.

The prognosis for Detroit is dire, but not hopeless. The city’s emergency manager wrote recently, “Outdated policies, work practices, procedures, and systems must be improved consistent with best practices of 21st-century government.”

If he’d like to see those “best practices” in use, on a daily basis, and the benefits that come to city residents who enjoy lower taxes, better economic prospects and more transparent public officials, he need only visit the city of Tyler.