But wrangling would have been unnecessary with consolidation

Hooray! Our city and county commissions are close to an agreement on a lease for Kenwood Park after months of bickering. At times, it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for either group.

The underlying problem is ownership of the two parks. Kenwood Park is owned by the city but the county leases part of the land for the fairgrounds and expo center. The county owns Oakdale Park, home to the annual Smoky Hill River Festival and the All-American Fourth of July celebration.

Of all the words tossed back and forth during this tussle, the most meaningful came from City Commissioner Alan Jilka, who drilled down to the root of the issue.

"To me, the whole scenario shows the folly of having two local government entities that represent nearly the same group of people having to haggle over this," Jilka said. "That might have worked back in the 19th century when Gypsum, Smolan, Brookville and Salina were all about the same size, but things have changed."

Yep. He certainly is correct about that one. A consolidated government would make all the bickering a thing of the past.

We admit the full advantages of a consolidated government are unclear for our community. We need a comprehensive study to help point the way. To their credit, city commissioners have supported a look at the possibilities, but Saline County commissioners have not.

We hope that resistance softens so we can pursue potential benefits experienced by other communities.

Our March 1 editorial offered some highlights from "A Comparative Analysis of City/County Consolidations," reported by the Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The study examines consolidation efforts during the past 60 years and is a gold mine of information. Here are a few points:

n Consolidation was sought to improve efficiency and service, promote economic development, coordinate planning and improve governance and image.

n The study found 17 overlapping functions that were eliminated.

n Public opinion research shows residents had high approval ratings of the new government ranging up to 79 percent.

n Researchers found that the most frequently mentioned benefit from consolidation is eliminating "competing agendas and creating a unified voice and plan for development."

That last point is critical. Even if we see no cost savings from consolidation, at least local government can speak with one voice in Topeka, Washington and when pursuing economic development. That is vitally important in today's environment, when we need every advantage in hardnosed competition for dollars and jobs.

-- Tom Bell

Editor & Publisher

Phone: 822-1491

E-mail: tbell@salina.com

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Applied Logic says....
Why destroy MORE JOBS at this time by consolidating the city and county? That only adds to the problem! Wait until Obama is out and the economy gets rolling again!
3/12/2009

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