We get frustrated at times by the inescapable feeling that our city is trapped in a time warp. We are recycling old conversations, old charges and old complaints.
But whenever we need perspective, we can simply say consolidation in front of the small town mayors of Shelby County and watch them respond in ways that would have made Ivan Pavlov proud.
Decade after decade, the mayors of the towns whose life and health depend solely on the life and health of Memphis have absolutely gagged over the notion that consolidation could be a better, more efficient form of government for Memphis and Shelby County.
The Me Generation
In the “what’s in it for me” world that we now live in, they predictably deliver a kneejerk reaction against a government structure that a majority of Shelby Countians support. Most incredibly of all, they launch into these attacks even though there’s no real plan for consolidation on the table. There just was a mention of it.
Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton merely advanced it as an issue worth examining and the small town mayors came out with their guns blazing. One said: “We are unequivocally opposed and that’s based on a long history of research and understanding of the implications for our communities,”
It’s a fairly typical response, given repeatedly over the years. It’s as if the talking points are the same ones parroted 40 years ago.
Give It Up
First, we think that the small town mayors should deliver up this “long history of research” that forms the basis of their opposition. At the same time, if they have an “understanding of the implications” for their towns, they should share that, too.
As far as we can tell, it’s more rhetoric than reason, more reaction than research. We are hard-pressed to recall a lot of negative research about consolidation or any negative implications for small towns like those outside Memphis.
In Davidson County, for example, we can’t remember any “understanding” in the small towns there about the negative impact of the consolidation of city and county governments there. To the contrary, the more efficient, more effective government has often been credited with keeping its tax rate down and revving the economy up.
Just The Facts And Nothing But
In the handful of years since Louisville and Jefferson County consolidated their governments, we haven’t read any revelations about negative implications for the smaller towns in the county.
Supporters of consolidation have laid out the benefits of consolidation – a shared vision, streamlined government, more business-friendly structure, economies of scale and more – but to date, the opponents have only said they are opposed to consolidation to their deaths but they come up short in offering any specifics or reasons why.
The mayors have suggested that consolidation would reduce services to their cities. That seems a strange concern, since there’s no logical justification for why they should be receiving more services from Shelby County Government than the citizens of Memphis in the first place. Of course, Shelby County has a long history of doing just that, and if Mayor Wharton can point to one accomplishment, it is that he has made great strides in eliminating the imbalance between Memphians and other Shelby Countians and the preferential treatment that these town mayors seem to think they deserve.
Majority Non-rule
Second, we think the mayors should explain why they think that their minority of voters should be able to block the will of the majority of citizens in Shelby County. In political circles in some of these towns, minority preferences for government business are downplayed, but when it comes to their minority blocking the majority’s will, that’s altogether different.
The truth is that if the citizens of the towns went to sleep tonight and woke up tomorrow with a consolidated government in place, they’d never know the difference. After all, the new metropolitan government would bear much more reflection to the present county government than to the present Memphis city government.
Third, the mayors seem to have a fatal case of political myopia. They can decry “big government,” but the future promises one whether consolidation is approved or not. And if consolidation is not in place, there most sinister nightmares will have taken place.
It’s About Choices
That’s because Shelby County government will have withered away, delivering nothing more than state-mandated services and bearing little resemblance to what it is today. Meanwhile, Memphis will continue to annex in keeping with the annexation reserve agreements signed by the small towns. At that point, there will be a city government in control of two-thirds of the land area of our county.
In other words, if there is no consolidation, there will be a big government – the City of Memphis government with 489 miles square miles. If there is consolidation, there will be a big county-oriented government that will have only 49 more square miles than the non-consolidated city government.
As a result, the real choice for the town mayors isn’t to try to stonewall consolidation yet again. It is to choose to be part of eliminating an unnecessary layer of government or to stand idly by as Memphis surrounds them and eventually dominates them. Based on their politics and turf, it seems like it would be an easy choice to make, but still, these mayors – who signed the agreements giving Memphis dominance in the future – think they can somehow avoid their aversion to a big metro government by opting instead for a massive City of Memphis government.
Discussion Is Not A Sign Of Weakness
Fourth, the town mayors’ apparent strategy of killing off any discussion about a more efficient government is more than disappointing, because any elected official who fears discussion and debate is more ideologue than public leader. At this point, we may all have our opinions, but all of us need more and more facts, and this is precisely true for the anti-consolidation people who react emotionally instead of inviting a discussion on the merits.
Perhaps, if they were willing participants of a process to do this, they might even find that they have the leverage to obtain some specific assurances and long-sought goals that have remained elusive for decades.
In that way, consolidation perhaps could do more than usher in a new structure of government, but actually, usher in the real regional partnership that is yet to be forged in Shelby County.
