Public Sector Inc., another website offering local government insights, has offered online debates in the past, but the ongoing debate regarding receiverships and bankruptcy caught our attention at PublicCEO.

The debate – now in its third of four days – is between Steven Greenhut and Michael Stampfler. The two are discussing the implications and outcomes of resolving severe financial crisis at the municipal levels. Each post a single comment per day, and then have the opportunity to respond to their counterpart’s opinion the next day. What develops during the course of the four-day debate is an intellectual discussion of, as Public Sector describes it, “one critical issue that is shaping the national conversation about public sector employment.”

From Public Sector Inc.:

Steven Michael
Residents of economically troubled cities need municipal bankruptcy as an option to help free them from the unsustainable benefit packages that public-sector unions have secured from weak-kneed council members. But they should be leery of receivership plans that allow out-of-town commissars to come in and order changes with few checks and balances. The serious financial conditions of cities facing either receivership or bankruptcy have generally developed over many years. Neglect, dubious legal practices and poor administration have all likely had a part in putting the community in such a desperate situation. What is critical is to find a solution to the complex and numerous problems leading up to this situation.

Read the full debate here.