A City Outsources Everything. Sky Doesn’t Fall.
Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times, via Associated Press
Sgt. Enrique Gonzalez, left, and other Maywood, Calif., officers during the department’s last inspection before being disbanded.
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: July 19, 2010
MAYWOOD, Calif. — Not once, not twice, but three times in the last two weeks, Andrew Quezada says, he was stopped and questioned by the authorities here.
J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times
Despite Maywood’s financial difficulties, the opening ceremonies for its Little League program were still held on Saturday.
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Mr. Quezada, a high school student who does volunteer work for the city, pronounced himself delighted.
“I’m walking along at night carrying an overstuffed bag,” he said, describing two of the incidents. “I look suspicious. This shows the sheriff’s department is doing its job.”
Chalk up another Maywood resident who approves of this city’s unusual experience in municipal governing. City officials last month fired all of Maywood’s employees and outsourced their jobs.
While many communities are fearfully contemplating extensive cuts, Maywood says it is the first city in the nation in the current downturn to take an ax to everyone