A framework for allowing local communities to decide whether to consolidate their cities and counties was approved in the final minutes of the 2006 Indiana legislative session Tuesday. It's a more complicated process than the consolidation plan drafted last year by a local study committee - and rejected by our legislative delegation - but it does allow for local control in deciding the issue, however difficult it was made for supporters of consolidation.
In fact, State Rep. Dennis Avery, D-Evansville, who voted for it, said it "allows people who don't like it to beat it."
That raises the question: Does it allow people who do like it the opportunity to win a referendum?
Under the new procedure, by citizen petition (10 percent needed) or by approval of the County Commissioners and the City Council, those boards would appoint a consolidation commission to develop a detailed plan for consolidated government. The two boards would later have to approve the commission's plan before the question could be put to a referendum. And that's where it gets interesting. The two boards - the Commissioners and the City Council - would decide whether it would take a simple majority for the referendum to pass, or whether it would take a higher percentage of votes to approve consolidation.
There's more. They would decide, as well, whether to have an "opt-out" threshold. As Jennifer Whitson of the Courier & Press' Indianapolis bureau reported, that means the boards could set it up so that if either the residents outside the city limits or residents inside the city oppose the measure strongly in their vote, it could fail.
Despite those hurdles, local supporters of consolidation believe this is a process that they can work with. Supporters told Courier & Press staff writer Thomas Langhorne they haven't decided yet whether to seek a citizen petition or to ask the City Council and County Commissioners to pass resolutions for the formation of the consolidation commission, but that they do intend to move quickly.
Attorney Les Shively, who worked with the Legislature on behalf of consolidation supporters, said he hopes the process moves along quickly enough to get the referendum on the November ballot.
That would depend in great part on the City Council and the County Commissioners, who last year were less than enthusiastic about consolidation. Each passed a resolution in support of the idea of allowing residents a referendum. But the commissioners qualified their support by saying they did not support the specific plan, and a number of council members expressed misgivings about the consolidation plan. That's history. Those boards can now appoint a commission to draft their own detailed plan for consolidation.
Throughout the debate of the past year, any number of elected public officials expressed reservations about consolidation. We suspected that some were interested mainly in protecting their offices from being eliminated or consolidated.
As this process begins anew, we would appeal to these boards to act in the public interest and allow the process to go forward. We would remind them that a poll commissioned last year by supporters of consolidation found that 51 percent of respondents believe consolidation is a good idea, while 35 percent believe it is a bad idea.
Indeed, despite what elected officials have heard from a vocal opposition to consolidation, there are others, apparently in significant numbers, who support making their local government smaller.
Please, let's begin the process, and find out what the people of Evansville and Vanderburgh County want to do.