Ann Arbor's obsession with consultants

According to an annarbor.com article, the AATA (Ann Arbor Transportation Authority) "is hiring a consultant to get the community involved in creating a vision for that plan and identifying service needs throughout the county."


The AATA would like to expand the city's bus service to the rest of Washtenaw County. In order to do so, an estimated one-mill tax would be leveraged on the entire county to replace the current 2.06 mills only paid by the residents of Ann Arbor.

Last time I checked, any time there is the possibility of increasing property taxes, there is plenty of community involvement. So why is a paid consultant needed to organize the community? Because Ann Arbor is obsessed with consultants.

It took two consulting firms to create the Downtown Design Guidelines. A consulting firm was hired to re-write the zoning ordinances so they are more user friendly. The list goes on.

What do I think? Consultants are hired to achieved desired outcomes. When one party with an agenda hires another, you can't expect the hired to proceed without bias. After all, who is writing the paycheck?