EVANSVILLE — They pushed and probed, floated their own ideas and, in an occasionally testy series of exchanges, asked pointed questions.
Most important, the men and women with the power to advance Evansville-Vanderburgh County government consolidation to a referendum indicated Monday night they have concerns that won't be quelled easily.
In a joint meeting devoted to examining the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Reorganization Committee's 47-page proposal for local government consolidation, members of the City Council and the County Commissioners threw up more than a few roadblocks.
Commissioner Marsha Abell drew the first applause from a nearly filled meeting room by zeroing in on issues of power.
Abell criticized a provision in the consolidation plan that the mayor's appointments would not require a proposed 11-member Common Council's advice and consent. Likewise, neither would the council's appointments require the mayor's advice and consent.
"I don't think that any policy-making appointments should ever be by one body — whether it be the one body of the council or the one body of the mayor," Abell declared.
"Policymaking decisions, if they are appointed bodies, removes the ability of the public to have direct input into the people that are governing them."
The remarks received applause from an audience composed primarily of opponents to the consolidation proposal, and sprinkled liberally with critics of Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel. Many of these critics have said the consolidation proposal would concentrate too much power in the hands of a consolidated government's mayor.
Abell pointed out that many appointive boards have two members appointed by the mayor, two by the City Council and two by county governing bodies.
"They don't have just everybody's appointed by the mayor," Abell said.
Rebecca Kasha, the reorganization committee's chairwoman, said appointments in a consolidated government would be prudently distributed.
"We went to great pains to make sure that we went through and, with very limited exceptions, made sure that there was bifurcated appointing authority on these boards," Kasha said.
"Far and away, most of the boards have appointments by both the mayor and the (Common) Council."
But City Councilman Dan Adams said too many appointive bodies would give the mayor of a consolidated government more appointments than the Common Council. Adams said he agrees with Abell.
Kasha reminded Adams that the mayor would have to be elected by voters.
"His appointments, I think, should be approved by the (Common Council)," Adams retorted.
Kasha has said the reorganization committee recognizes the City Council and County Commissioners' authority to change its proposal, although she did not hesitate to advocate for the plan.
Adams and Abell also weighed in against the consolidation proposal's absence of term limits for the mayor and Common Council members.
Kasha said the reorganization committee preferred to rely solely on the proclivities of voters.
"Our contention was that there are term limits every time there's an election, and if people are unhappy with the people that represent them, they vote them out," she said.
Since 1900, Kasha said, Evansville has had but two mayors who served more than two terms.
"At least from the mayor's perspective, we have not had dynasties," she said.
"Well, that sounds slick, but I'm just reflecting what I'm hearing from my constituents," Adams shot back.
"And I'm just trying to explain the rationale that we had," Kasha said. "It really wasn't slick. The idea was that you have elections, and if people are not happy with who represents them, then they vote them out."
The City Council and the County Commissioners can make changes to the consolidation proposal, but they ultimately must agree on the changes. The two governing bodies may take up to a year to vote on a consolidation plan.
If the governing bodies vote yes, the proposal will go to a referendum, probably as part of the 2012 election.
If they vote no, the proposal will go back to the reorganization committee for a rewrite. If they vote no again on the rewrite, it will die unless 10 percent of voters who cast a ballot in last year's secretary of state race — about 5,000 voters — signed a petition to force it to a ballot question.