EDITORIAL – City-county merger a progressive proposal

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan… Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato joined forces Friday to propose a city-county merger that could, if implemented, propel Pittsburgh and its surrounding municipalities into a new era of governing.

The plan was set in motion in October 2006, when Ravenstahl and Onorato asked Nordenberg to head a 13-person committee to study the existing city and county governments, as well as analyze the results of consolidated city-county governments in other parts of the country to determine the possibility of implementing a similar merger in Pittsburgh, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The committee, which announced the results of the report, “Government for Growth: Forging a Bright Future – Built on Unity, Efficiency, Equity and Equality – for the People of Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh,” at a press conference in the William Pitt Union Friday, proposed three key recommendations: that the city and county move to end duplicative services, that the two governments form a cooperation compact to guide them beyond the terms of their current leaders, and that the voters approve the city-county consolidation through a referendum.

The proposal has been met with mixed reviews thus far, with criticisms primarily coming from suburban and city leaders who fear that their governments would be overlooked by a consolidated city-county government.

For every one reason to merge the two governments, there are certainly five or 10 challenges. Municipality leaders worry that suburban residents will be forced to pay off city debts. City leaders worry that the consolidated government will keep suburban municipalities as its main focus. State leaders worry about how the consolidated government will be restructured.

These challenges are certainly viable and should be answered as city, county and state leaders work to develop the framework of a possible merger. But aside from all of the criticisms of a merger, we can’t forget the underlying reason why to consolidate the two governments in the first place: Pittsburgh and Allegheny county governments as one will create an increased efficiency that can move our region into the future.

Pittsburgh has been struggling for years, with overlapping city and county government structures draining tax money from more progressive projects. Combining the two governments will remove the duplicative structures within both governments and help to streamline a bloated system that often creates roadblocks for economic development.

City and county leaders have proposed the possibility of a merger for years but have been met with consistent opposition. This time, though, Onorato and Ravenstahl – proponents who have the clout to win over residents and fellow lawmakers – have joined behind the plan. But even with its star-power supporters, the plan risks going the way of so many other progressive proposals in Pennsylvania – in death by disagreement.

We encourage state, city and county leaders as well as Pittsburgh and Allegheny County residents to carefully consider the beneficial aspects of the merger before voting or speaking out against it.

A city-council merger would certainly be a risk, but it’s a risk we’re willing to take.