Stumbling Block

This week, I worked on my second assignment, which is to compare best practices of similar special assessment districts (SADs) across the country. It proved to be a challenge because, as far as I can tell, no residential SADs that pay for security exist! The pattern became me finding an SAD, getting excited, and then discovering it was actually a business district (can’t directly compare because it is infinitely easier to convince businesses to pay an extra $100/year for security than an individual homeowner) or a residential district that paid for other services such as lighting.

After a couple of days of this sadness, I turned to the wonderful MLibrary and began combing through journal articles on alternative governments in an attempt to find a reference to an SAD. I soon began laughing at myself; I kept on saving articles in RefWorks and pulling out key quotes, as if I was preparing for a 15 page paper on the aspects and benefits of private security for a community. But of course, that’s not what I was supposed to be doing. I’m supposed to create literature and presentations that effectively and efficiently convey the most important information about SADs and private security, which is an entirely different, albeit useful, skill.

Anyway, I now have an entire folder of articles on RefWorks to read through next week, but I don’t have high hopes. I did, however, set up interviews with two people who manage SADs on the East Coast. They probably cannot help me much in terms of best practices, but maybe they can give me a lead on another city with an SAD ordinance.