 National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 32, No. 23 * December 18, 2000 Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story
Louisville Votes Merger — First Since Indy in 1969 By Neal R. Peirce
(Neal Peirce is a syndicated columnist who writes about local government issues. His columns do not reflect the opinions of County News or NACo.) For the first time in more than 30 years, a major American city and its surrounding county will merge their governments. The consolidation vote Nov.7, in Louisville and Jefferson County, was a clear-cut 54 percent to 46 percent. “It was an historic day in my hometown — one I really never thought I’d get to enjoy in my lifetime,” merger leader Jerry Abramson, a former mayor of Louisville and prospective candidate to be the first metro mayor, e-mailed me the next day. Not since Indianapolis’ “Unigov” was created by the Indiana legislature in 1969, on the heels voter-approved city-county mergers in Jacksonville (1968) and Nashville (1962), has a merger in such a large metropolitan area been approved by voters. And it wasn’t easy for Louisville. Reformers had tried for 45 years and lost three prior referenda — in 1956, 1982 and 1983. So how did they break their decades-long losing streak? Bipartisan support of top leaders, intensive phone-banking and grassroots organizing; full bore newspaper support and a big dose of big bucks. Plus, a new argument. In most cities in most past years, the pitch for mergers has been governmental — that combined governments would be more efficient, or more economical, or both. But supporters typically have a tough time proving that case. Result? Voters typically opt to leave power in the hands of their own city and suburban town officials. In this year’s Louisville campaign, the main focus switched from efficiency to economics. In a nutshell, proponents were saying: “Merger will make us money. We’ll vault from 65th largest U.S. city to 23rd. We’ll be on the radar screen of major metropolises. We’ll attract more jobs. Our young people won’t have to go elsewhere for economic opportunity.” Indeed, by virtue of the vote, Louisville will vault to an estimated 527, 571 people — past Cincinnati, Honolulu, St. Louis, Kansas City and Nashville. Columnist Bob Hill joked in The (Louisville) Courier-Journal that Louisvillians may develop “population bends — a sudden, painful and possibly fatal release of nitrogen bubbles into the bloodstream caused by rising too fast past Toledo and Tulsa.” One reason merger won was fear of seeing fast-growing Lexington — Kentucky’s second city, which voted city-county merger in 1974 — move past Louisville this decade. All Louisville area top officials backed the merger, including Mayor Dave Armstrong and Jefferson County Judge-Executive Rebecca Jackson — indeed every living person who’s ever held those posts, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell not only endorsed merger, but installed one of his prime political operatives as a campaign co-chair. Result: sophisticated polling, phone banks and direct mail to undecided voters. And then an advertising blitz, but late in the campaign, so as not to rouse opponents early on. “Good government” forces often aren’t that professional— nor as well funded. “The business community,” said Steve Higdon, president of Greater Louisville, Inc., the metropolitan area chamber of commerce, “puts $1 million or so into the pro-merger campaign. We absolutely got our money’s worth.” Merger opponents ranged from the usual suburbanites fearful of losing autonomy to inner-city black groups worried about diminished clout in an expanded city. One gay group opposed merger because a suburban-influenced metro council might repeal city legislation protecting homosexuals from workplace discrimination. But advocates claimed six of 26 metro council seats would likely be won by blacks. To avoid opposition, the merger didn’t disturb existing small-town and rural police and fire departments, nor abolish 83 smaller suburban cities — all compromises similar to Indianapolis’ Unigov. Does the Louisville vote mean other U.S. metropolises may be poised for mergers? Not necessarily. Louisville didn’t just run an ultra-smart campaign. It had lots of collaborative mechanisms in place already— including a whole array of consolidated Louisville and Jefferson County services, from schools, purchasing and planning, to sewer water, libraries, health and transit. Since 1986, the city and county have had compacts for 100 percent sharing of revenue from wage taxes they collect. In 1988, Abramson, already the city mayor, was telling me “ I can’t afford to have a city versus the suburbs standoff anymore.” Business understood, too: “The Greater Louisville economic development effort, begun in the 80s, has embraced nearby Kentucky counties as well as several across the Ohio River in Indiana. Leadership training and action programs are being enlarged to the bistate region too,” said Abramson. Over time, in short, a lot of trust has been built. The Louisville-Jefferson County merger may, indeed, one day be seen as part of progression. “Once we get this squared away, then we look to the rest of the citistate,” says Abramson. As Indianapolis and Nashville attest most vividly, today’s leapfrogging development patterns mean that even model city-county consolidations, over time, catch just a fraction of population growth. So while consolidated government is an important step, truly smart regions will have to focus on building broad regionwide trust and collaboration — across and beyond official boarders. (Neil Peirce’s e-mail address is npeirce@citistates.com.) © 2000, Washington Post Writers Group |
