Sandy Springs Focus of Sunday NY Times Story

Sandy Springs continues to attract national attention. An in-depth Sunday New York Times story looks at how the city thrives in privatization while other towns struggle with a similar model.

The story also raises the question of affluence and race in Sandy Springs’ break from Fulton County. Evan McKenzie, an author and expert on privatization, told The Times there’s a danger of “rich enclaves…walling themselves off from areas that are economically distressed.”

Mayor Eva Galambos sees it differently and described critics as envious of Sandy Springs’ wealth.

What did you think of The New York Times Story?

The story said other municipalities such as Chicago, New York and Maywood Calif., have not had much luck in trying out some form of privatization.

City Manager John McDonough pointed out the switch from CH2M Hill to several contractors handling city services, a year ago. The new contracts not only saved $7 million, but small contracts were awarded to losing bidders, in case providers of the bigger services did not succeed.

A line in reporter David Segal’s story may have had local readers chuckling, and wondering how much he got to see, notwithstanding Roswell Road.

He wrote: "Drive around and you’ll see a nondescript upscale suburb, where the most notable features are traffic lights that seem to take five minutes to turn green."

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