Privatizing city services is a necessary tool in any municipalities’ toolbox for both reducing government waste and ensuring city growth. Innovators and entrepreneurs across the country are exploring the concept of “contract cities,” which use public-private partnerships to reduce costs while improving city services. The purpose of this event is to examine the possibilities and sand-traps of privatization and contract cities in Michigan. 

Oliver W. Porter retired as a vice president from AT&T and served as the volunteer interim city manager of Sandy Springs, Ga., a new city of about 90,000 residents that set the standard for private-public partnerships.

During the creation of the city, he served as chairman of the Governor’s Commission on Sandy Springs and as chairman of the Sandy Springs Charter Commission. Sandy Springs, which is adjacent to Atlanta, was incorporated in 2005 and privatized virtually all government services except for public safety and schools.

Porter, who has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and an MBA, has since served as an adviser to several other communities in Georgia on the use of PPP and has counseled existing municipalities across the country on privatization issues.

He is a senior government fellow at Georgia Tech specializing in the comparative studies of PPP in traditional cities and has written four books on the issue. He was chosen as an “Innovator in Action” in 2009 by the Reason Foundation.

Lunch is free and is included with reservations
WHEN: Wednesday, June 5, from noon until 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Governor's Room of the Lansing Center
333 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, Mich. 48933

Register online or by calling 989-698-1905

This event is co-sponsored by the Mackinac Center and the Foundation for Economic Education.