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 Today's Editorial
League finds smart option
A joint task force to study city-county consolidation is just
what local government needs
Those folks from the
Salina League of Women Voters are smart, forward thinking, practical
and good looking to boot.
We aren’t saying that just because
the league’s recommendation for a study of city-county consolidation
is similar to the Journal’s. Or maybe we are. We are feeling
downright cheery after the league recommended a joint task force to
study consolidation of the city of Salina and Saline
County.
The Journal has been beating that drum for so long
our arms are tired. It will be good to have more in the
band.
The league’s recommendation comes after months of
study. Members surveyed city and county employees. They held public
forums with knowledgeable people, who answered some of the tough
questions about consolidation issues. Speakers included: Dave Kerr,
former state senator from Hutchinson; Don Moler, director of the
League of Kansas Municipalities; Sandy Jacquot, chief counsel of the
League of Kansas Municipalities; and Randall Allen, director of the
Kansas Association of Counties.
As reported by April
Middleton in Sunday’s Journal, the league also recommends the task
force include balanced representation of city and county residents
and those of differing gender, race, age and economic status. Good
suggestions.
In its next step, the league will formalize its
recommendation by asking each commission to create the task force.
This is important because commissioners’ responses will establish
official positions on potential consolidation. It is a sure bet the
city commission will support a task force.
There’s no telling
what the three members of the county commission will do. So far they
have shown little interest in studying the matter.
Perhaps
that will change with the league’s recommendation. It shows county
commissioners that more people are picking up the beat and won’t
quit until the consolidation issue is studied further.
They
should remember this comment from league President Gina
McDonald:
“It’s not an issue that’s going to go
away.”
Gosh, she’s smart.
— Tom
Bell
Editor & Publisher
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