News-Sentinel.com

A House Divided: Let's talk about merger

Momentum is building to at least study structure of government in Allen County.

By Leo Morris for the editorial board

County Commissioner Ed Rousseau has been one of the staunchest, most dependable foes of consolidated government in Allen County. When former mayor Paul Helmke, one of consolidation's staunchest, most dependable advocates, talks about his difficulties in getting government-merger talks moving, he frequently mentions Rousseau by name.

And now Rousseau is backing off, in what surely is one of the most significant developments on the issue in 10 years.

Rousseau has not become an ardent supporter of consolidation by any means. In fact, he can give you 10 reasons consolidation won't work here for every one you give him in favor of it. But he now urges local residents to at least talk about where local government is and where it should be.

"Fort Wayne and Allen County need to know what combined government can and cannot do," he said in a guest column on our page Wednesday. "Our future may depend on it." He then urges local leaders to help get state legislation passed that will allow county residents to study local government's structure. "If a study bill does not pass," he concludes, "we should study the issue locally."

What's significant about Rousseau's current position is that it exactly matches that of the people who are most enthusiastic about studying local government. They do not seek immediate change. They aren't hot to impose Indianapolis-style Unigov, the one form of consolidated government Rousseau and other critics oppose most vehemently.

They merely want to study. That would be the purpose of a "charter commission," a state-approved committee to tackle local-government issues. The commission would be composed of a wide cross-section of local residents -- representatives from government, the business community, education, social service agencies; and there would be plenty or ordinary citizens and average taxpayers.

The commission would be free to recommend whatever it thought best for Allen County. It might be total consolidation. It might merely be combining the most logical city and county departments -- such as the planning merger being discussed right now. It might be something like Grand Rapids, Mich., has -- a council of governments with representatives of all local units that is given some power to make decisions affecting all. It might be to leave things almost as they are with only minor adjustments. It might be to do nothing all.

And whatever the commission recommended would be publicized in as many ways as possible so that everyone in the county had an opportunity to understand every last detail. Nothing would be changed -- nothing -- without the approval of voters in a referendum.

The commission would not result in a new system of government being imposed on taxpayers from on high. It would be a forum for Allen County to decide what is best for Allen County.

Ed Rousseau's call for this kind of conversation is a significant step forward, but it's just one sign of the growing acceptance here of looking into government's structure. A majority of the City Council sees the need. The three new County Council members actually had such a study in their platforms. The Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Indiana Corporate Council and others in the business community are stepping up their calls for a unified approach to economic development. Groups such as Fort Wayne Future have the topic on their agendas, and conversations have already begun. Some key state legislators from the area are involved.

For the last 10 years, a study of local government's structure has been considered all but a dead issue in Allen County. But now momentum is building for the idea, spurred in large part by the crisis in county finances and the realization that government just isn't getting the job done the way it is structured now. Competition these days is region-to-region, and what northeast Indiana needs most to thrive is a unified vision and a single voice.

Momentum doesn't last forever. Now is the time to act -- with the state's approval if we can get it. But Rousseau is right -- even without the state's immediate stamp of approval, we need to have this conversation.

(Note: The Evening Forum this week conducted a second roundtable discussion on local government. That conversation will be published before the end of the year.)