the small cities were asked to dissolve tornimplement a future merger plan, thatrnplan would probably lose a lot of wellconnectedrnvotes.rnThe small cities offer their residentsrntwo things: identity and services. Citiesrnsuch as Jeffersontown and Middletownrn(both founded in 1797, just 17 years afterrnLouisville) are communities withrnstrong personalities and long histories.rnResidents are loath to give these up. Asrnfor services, proponents of a mergedrnform of government have not explainedrnto the small cities’ mayors how onerngovernment can maintain the servicernlevel that the cities now have, especiallyrnwithout new taxes. In the small city ofrnShively, Mayor Jim Jenkins said thatrnmost residents “feel like if they were partrnof Jefferson County, they would havernless services and the costs would not bernsignificantly lower.”rnAnchorage’s Peyton Hoge argues thatrnsmall city residents don’t get much forrntheir county tax dollars as it is. Thevrnare willing to pay additional city taxesrnbecause they get something for thatrnmoney—including responsiveness. BothrnHoge and Mayor Arthur Draut of St.rnMatthews maintain that their city policerndepartments have a much quicker re-rnDispatches fromrnThe Last DitchrnAnarcho-pessimists,rncrypto-Copperheads,rnpost-neo-Objectivists,rnand other enemies of thernpermanent regimernopining monthly, fromrnindividualist and European-rnAmerican perspectives, onrnthe end of civilizationrnWrite for free issuernTrial subscription (4 issues), $15rn12 issues, $42 24 issues, $77rnWTM EnterprisesrnP.O. Box 224 Depi CHrnRoanoke, IN 46783-0224rnsponse time than the county police. Perhapsrnmore importantly, small city residentsrndon’t have to go far to voice a complaintrnto their representatives. Therncities’ councils and mayors “are awfullyrnclose to the people, and if they don’trnprovide services, they hear about it,”rnHoge said.rnEven the smallest cities value their independence.rnIn Norbourne Eistates,rnwhich comprises 176 homes, part-timernMayor Tommy Elliott is angry at therncounty’s shrugging response to his requestrnfor more help in enforcing therncounty street-parking law. If Norbournernwere a Louisville city neighborhood orrnpart of a metro government, Elliottrnwould have no recourse other than tornwrite his alderman. But since NorbournernEstates is a city, Elliott can takernaction to solve the enforcement problem.rnWhat his city has done is to collectrnfor itself the insurance tax that currentlyrngoes to the county. The $10,000 torn$13,000 Elliott expects this tax to bringrnin will probably be spent on hiring offdutyrncounty police officers to patrol Norbournernstreets. Like other small-cityrnmayors, Elliott is not opposed to the cityrnand county governments merging. Butrnas for asking Norbourne Estates to dissolve,rn”We don’t see what we have torngain.”rnBen Richmond, president and CEOrnof the Urban League in Louisville, saidrnLouisville’s inner city and mostly blackrnWest End worry that merger meansrnblacks in Louisville will lose politicalrnclout. Today blacks have four “safe”rnseats on the board of aldermen, and onernof the three county commissioners (DarrylrnOwens) is also black. In the city ofrnLouisville, blacks now make up 30 percentrnof the population. Countywide,rnthat number drops to 17 percent. Underrnreorganization, their clout would be dilutedrnand their representatives wouldrnnaturally have a smaller voice in a largerrngovernment.rnBill Stone of Louisville Plate Glass believesrnmerged government is so importantrnthat if compromising with the blackrncommunity is what it takes to get theirrnagreement, compromise should bernmade. If the black community demandsrna disproportionate amount of representationrnon any metro government council,rnhe said, then it should be given that concession.rnThat may not be enough: arnmember of the merger charter commissionrnin 1982 and 1983 said that the commissionrngave one of its black membersrnevery concession he asked for and thenrnwatched him go out and campaignrnagainst the final plan. Of course, mergerrncould pass in Jefferson County withoutrnthe black vote. But that would bernpolitically unpalatable and is unlikely.rnIf Louisville’s blacks are afraid of losingrnrepresentation, the middle-classrnwhite southwest seems almost afraid ofrntoo much representation. Here most residentsrnlive in the unincorporated county,rnwhere they don’t receive many servicesrnand don’t seem to want them. Theirrnprimary fear is that merger will meanrnhigher taxes.rnThere are other hurdles, too. To takernjust one example, the Louisville fire departmentrnis all-professional, while therncounty’s 21 departments are staffed by arnmixture of professional and volunteerrnfiremen. Merging the city and countyrndepartments would be almost impossiblerntoday, and turning the largely volunteerrncounty forces into all-professional departmentsrnwould be prohibitively expensive.rnUnder merger, city and countyrnpolice unions would have to be broughtrnin line with each other, as would cityrnand county civil service unions. The immediaterneffect of merger would likely bernan increase in the cost of these employees.rnThis is one of Darryl Owens’ argumentsrnfor the status quo.rnWith so many different constituenciesrnlikely to lose things they now havernand want, what does Jefferson Countyrnhave to gain by consolidation? Therncontinued and improved health ofrndowntown, according to Joe Corradino,rnformer chairman of the merger charterrncommission in 1983. “Unless the cityrnand county get together, the fiscal conditionrnof these two governments 10 to 20rnyears from now will be threatened.” Therncity budget is really the one that’s threatened,rnas all the growth in greaterrnLouisville is in the countv. Corradino isrnespecially concerned that Louisville’srndowntown will decay as taxpayers continuernto move farther out into JeffersonrnCounty (and beyond). “Any decentsizedrncity with a core that hasn’t remainedrnvibrant over time will haverntremendous budget problems.” Withrnone budget, the merged governmentrncould draw from a larger pool of tax dollarsrnand redistribute them over a widerrnarea—spending some of affluent St.rnMatthews’ monies on downtown, for example.rnThere is more than civic-mindedrncharity to the argument for merger, ac-rn42/CHRONICLESrnrnrn