Supporters of Evansville-Vanderburgh County government consolidation think it is unlikely they can get the issue onto November's general election ballot.
Attorney Les Shively, who worked with the Legislature on behalf of consolidation backers, conceded they probably cannot work through the provisions of legislation passed last month quickly enough.
"We're not going to rule it out or in until we've talked with elected officials, because they're the ones that control the timeline," Shively said.
In the days after the Legislature passed a bill giving local government units a framework to merge March 14, Shively expressed hope that consolidation advocates could work through the new bill's provisions quickly enough to get a referendum on consolidation onto the ballot in November.
But City Councilman Joe Kiefer, who kicked off the drive for consolidation by pushing for formation of the original study committee three years ago, said that idea has been abandoned.
"We're not shooting for that," Kiefer said. "We've got to raise a lot of money and get a lot of people on board first."
Kiefer said several consolidation advocates will meet this morning with County Commissioners President Cheryl Musgrave.
Kiefer said the meeting will be "an initial discussion to get things kick-started and see where she stands, what she would like to do."
Musgrave agreed, saying she has made no decisions or commitments on the consolidation issue. "This (meeting) does not reflect an action program," she said.
Options for triggering the consolidation process include starting a voter petition drive or asking the City Council and the County Commissioners to pass resolutions to merge.
"I guess we'll do the petition drive, even if the local politicians stepped up and said, 'We'll do this,'" Kiefer said.
Kiefer said pro-consolidation forces haven't decided whether they will seek to get a referendum on the 2007 or 2008 general election ballots.
City elections will be held in 2007 and county elections in 2008. A referendum could be on the 2007 city election ballot while county voters could simultaneously cast ballots in a special election.
A countywide special election solely to accommodate a referendum would be expensive and "extremely rare," County Clerk Susan Kirk said Monday.