Consolidation lurches forward
A group of advocates from Evansville/Vanderburgh made comments Tuesday at a meeting of the Local Government Efficiency and Financing Study Commission. As Jennifer Whitson reports in the Evansville Courier & Press (“Merger bill awaits go-ahead“), at least two state legislators have said they would “carry a bill” to allow a countywide referendum on consolidation for the city of Evansville and Vanderburgh County if the County Council, City Council, County Commissioners and Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel all endorse it. As Indiana Barrister reported on Oct. 1, the County Council will formally endorse the proposal on today.
But as is clear from the comments my close friend County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave made, the commissioners’ support of the idea is less than certain. Many elected officials remain worried that the failure of “Vandygov”, as it was called int he 1970s, will replay in this effort. A new non-profit corporation on whose board I sit is charged with advocating consolidation to the public and elected officials. The Unification Study committee, which preceeded the advocacy commitee, has significant amounts of information online, including the Unified Metropolitan Government Proposal.
Assuming the remaining Evansville/Vanderburgh governmental bodies decide against unification, it remains unclear why a referendum is suddenly inappropriate. Advocates of unification have adopted the motto “let the people decide”.
