Regional Governance by Special District

Abstract

As was described in Chap. 1, another approach is regional governance by special district. Special districts are ubiquitous in metropolitan areas. Most special districts cover small geographical areas and provide only one or two closely related functions. A few special districts cover an entire county and fewer still cover most if not all of the metropolitan area. Those that do cover an entire county or metropolitan area tend to be water or sewer districts or development and transportation authorities. Regional districts, however powerful their regional influence may be, are limited in their regional governance function to the function(s) they provide. Also, unless there is a coordinating entity, there is no overall regional direction. Districts providing limited functions tend to concentrate on their function with little concern for how their function impacts other functions or overall regional policy. An additional downside with regional governance by special districts is that building a strong political base and public involvement in these agencies is problematic, particularly if board members are not directly elected. Even with elected boards, public involvement generally is minimal because special districts normally only provide one or two functions, and they are usually maintenance-type issues that elicit little citizen interest. Therefore, special districts’ regional governance impact and potential are limited by the number and types of functions provided, regional coordination of these functions, and their ability to attract public interest and involvement.