League of Women Voters
of Salina, Kansas

Fear of lifestyle change at issue
Concerns raised about possible consolidation

April Middleton
Salina Journal

There's a certain amount of fear associated with government consolidation, particularly among county residents, Marlysue Holmquist admitted during a forum on the topic Thursday evening. "I chose to not live in the city. I choose to not have paved roads," said Holmquist, who lives in rural Smolan.

And she doesn't want someone who doesn't understand that lifestyle to make decisions for her.

Randall Allen, director of Kansas Association of Communities, said that's why it's important to gather everyone around the table to have discussions.

"The only way (consolidation) works is if you look out after everyone," Allen said during the forum, which was part of a study of city-county consolidation being done by the Salina League of Women Voters.

"You have to be conscious of all different viewpoints."

About 40 people, including city and county commissioners, attended the forum at the Salina Public Library.

Allen said his association does not endorse or oppose government consolidation.

The association, though, does think that the issue is one that should be able to be decided at the local level without barriers.

In order for consolidation to occur now, special legislation has to be passed by the Legislature.

A bill currently in a state Senate committee would essentially eliminate the obstacles, Allen said.

The bill, which Allen spent much time outlining Thursday night, would not spell out how consolidation would work.

The legislation also would not require the consolidation to pass on a dual majority, meaning that a majority of people in the county and a majority of people within the city would have to approve of consolidating.

That dual majority is what caused a consolidation measure in Shawnee County to fail. More than 70 percent of Topekans approved the measure, but only 40 percent living outside the city voted for it.

"I have concerns about dual majority. I think it disenfranchises city residents," Allen said. "(With this bill) if a community wants a dual majority, they can do it or if they don't want to, they don't have to."

Allen said one of the forces that seems to affect which cities and counties decide to consolidate is population demographics.

In most cases, those governments that tend to consolidate have a large majority of their population that lives in the central city in the county.

In Saline County, about 85 percent of the population resides in Salina.

That doesn't do anything to ease Holmquist's fears.

She used the merger of Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County as an example.

After that merger, the Kansas Speedway was built. And it was built on what was at one time rural land, Holmquist said.

"I don't want 85 percent of the people to be able to decide what is best for me," Holmquist said.

Abner Perney, a city commissioner who attended the forum, said he understood the fear and thinks many county residents share it.

"It seems to boil down to land use," Perney said. "If we consolidate first on planning and settle the land-use issues, I think everyone might be better off."