How do you support Metro government when you don’t know what it is? July 9, 2008
I got a chuckle out of the Charleston Gazette editorial Saturday that supported the plan to form a metro government for Charleston-Kanawha County.
Of course, they said they don’t know what that plan is, but whatever it is, they support it.
Let’s hold judgement here for a bit.
I understand the hellbent nature of those who want to see Metro Government pass here in Kanawha County. I have generally supported efforts headed in that direction.
But, how do I support or oppose a plan that I have no idea what it says or does?
Right now, everyone is saying, don’t worry, all the municipalities in the county will keep their city councils and services and employees.
Huh?
Why would we form a metro government that doesn’t streamline government? I mean, what’s the point?
Two scenarios are at play. Either, we will consolidate municipalities and no one is saying for fear of having everyone in that town vote against the plan OR they won’t consolidate municipalities and it will be a total waste of time.
Look, I understand the Census talk and the block grant talk, but I’ve never seen anything concrete that says if we form a city-county government that the “Census” will count us all together. My guess is they will count, Charleston, they will count the County, and they will publish those numbers.
I mean, there are some basic questions here that will have to be answered (and my guess is they won’t) before you even begin going down the road of a vote in 2009. Right, 2009, as in next year.
What will the tax structure look like? What will this new mega-council look like? Why would we continue to keep ALL the municipal governments and form a larger government structure as an extra layer of bureaucracy? How will the council be apportioned?
Let’s be honest here. The fear from everyone outside of city limits of Charleston is they simply don’t want to come under the thumb of the City of Charleston. Period.
South Charleston? With Frank Mullens running the show and garbage trucks showing up twice a week, do you think the residents there have ANY desire to change government structure?
Western Kanawha County? Pheewww. The mere site of a Charleston Mayor on the tube promoting something will send those in Cross Lanes and Sissonville and Elkview charging to the polls to vote against any slight perception that Charleston is taking over.
Any plan that hints of a municipal government where Charleston is the 800 lb gorilla, well, my guess is that plan will get defeated 60/40 instead of passing with the required 60.01% it will need.
Looking back now at the legislation, I’m happy that many of us held our ground and required that a super-majority be required to pass at the local level. The super-majority requirement will demand a great deal of explaining exactly what this change means. And, more importantly, where this change will lead.
Will the plan be to swallow up local municipal governments?
Will the plan be to extend B&O taxes to unincorporated areas (why am I guessing that is where we are headed)?
Questions, questions, questions.
Let’s take a deep breath, and not get railroaded with the artificial deadline of the 2010 Census. This is a major change in government structure that affects every single citizen of Kanawha County and the first step hasn’t even been taken. This MAY be the right move. The team put together MAY have a plan to answer all these questions.
Oh, and just a heads up for those who will be in charge.. a “we don’t know yet” will not be an acceptable answer.
Until these questions are answered, there is no chance of passage of Metro Government in Kanawha County.
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10 Responses to “How do you support Metro government when you don’t know what it is?”
Charleston has less than 50K of Kanawha’s 200K residents.
All three Kanawha commissioners live in Charleston, inspite of 75% of the County’s population not living there. Why?
All four mag districts intersect in Charleston. Until this is changed, the residents of Eastern Kanawha, Nitro/Cross Lanes/Saint Albans, Elkview/Clendenin, and Sissionville will continue to get shafted by King Kent and Co.
Why should the folks in South Charleston, who have voted for responsible govt for decades be forced to share the burden of Charleston’s disasterous mismanagement of its police and fire pensions?
Why should little old ladies on fixed income in Saint Albans be bailing out Charleston. Let the 1,000 plus attorneys and 1000 plus doctors with a Charleston home address bail their own city out.
Why should SoChas sacrifice its outstanding city services and allow a Charleston dominated metro-goverment ran by the likes of tax and spend socialists like Danny Jones and Kent Carpter destroy their quality of life.
If I were a resident of Nitro/St Albans/Cross Lanes/Sissionville, I would be trying to secede from Kanawha and forming my own smaller functional county rather than remain part of the train wreck.
The push for metro government is an admission that the Kanawha County Commission and City of Charleston are abject failures and they must bring in more residents to share in Charleston’s misery.
DC Metro is one of the nation’s fastest growing regions inspite of the fact that DC itself is a failure as a city. Kanawha County can flourish without its residents assuming Charleston’s considerable pension debt.
If we want to revitalize the Capitol City’s economy, perhaps we should start by lowering taxes and reducing regulatory burdens imposed at a certain Golden Domed Building on Kanawha Blvd.
All West Virginians already get a heavy dose of misery inflicted by politicans in Charleston every winter, let’s not impose an extra dose of misery to 150,000 Kanawha Countians wise enough to live outside of Charleston.
Well, I honestly don’t know enough about the pro’s & con’s of the issue to have a solid opinion, (although Mr. Bolen makes some excellent points), but if metro government means more people voting against King Danny and Prince Carper, it certainly has its appeal.
Charles hit the nail on the head. Someone from South Charleston voting for metro gov’t is like someone with a healthy stock portfolio voting for Obama…just doesn’t make sense.
The City of Fairmont tried this recently….and Vic is right. The people that live in the unincorporated areas of the county did not want to be annexed (that’s what we’re really talking about here) by the city. All of the arguments Charles made were valid here - only on a smaller scale. You can add Zoning and other property use restrictions to his list. The city is going bankrupt and is desperately looking to extend its tax base. There is no way that we small government Republicans should be supporting this type of massive growth in government.
I got scared before it failed and moved to Harrison County to ensure that I didn’t get caught in the middle of this mess.
It makes sense only if government overall can be streamlined and if every region sees the benefit. It sounds like someone, somewhere is thinking in terms of a mini-federal system for Kanawha County where all the old cities and towns retain some rights. However no one should sign off on such a drastic change until the plan gets laid out for full public consideration.
If West Virginia had a rational tax, regulatory, and judicial system that gave business a reason to come here, the state’s cities would not be in such poor shape.
King Jones decrees:
$ 2 a week user fees from the paupers in the new Charleston Kingdom ranging from Winfield to Gauley Bridge
600 new Metro Cops to run radar and issue tickets to enrich the Kingdoms treasury.
“Off with their heads” was heard from the Kings throne when asked about what to do with the conquered lands leaders.
Knighthood for Lord Carper for his assistance during the crusades.
I’m still trying to figure out how St Albans is represented by South Hills liberals like Bonnie Brown (I know she lives in SC), Corey Palumbo and morons like Danny Wells.
Danny Jones and Charleston want more authority and revenue. There is no way Charleston would go for the deal if they didn’t receive the most benefit. Is there any possibility that with the restructuring of the charter that Mayor Jones could run for re-election depending on how the charter is revised? Has anyone considered this. Jones only cares about himself. He is self-serving. I’m glad John Miller gives him headaches. At least one public servant is speaking out for the people.
Reducing local municpalities is dangerous to freedom. When you empower less people over you lives you are one step closer to tyranny. I have a voice in my town, but if my local govrnment is gone, then that is lost. America is being sold out fast to socialism. This is socialism…it is not the answer to freedom and representative government.
This is a move toward bigger government with more authority. It like losing states rights under Lincoln, we are losing local government rights.
Not surprise that republicans are supportive since they destroyed states rights under Lincoln.
The simple fact is this: if WV hadn’t been run in the ground by the Democratic party over the past 60 years, our economy would actually be viable. Our cities (save for Morgantown and Martinsburg, God bless them) wouldn’t be dying. They would be growing, thriving places. Metro government wouldn’t be seen as some kind of savior.
Come 2010, WV is going to not have a single city over 50,000 in population. It’s a disgrace. 1.82 million people, and no single city over 50k?
Charleston is desperate, and rightly so. They are bleeding people, tax base, and revenue. Huntington is practically dead. Parkersburg is in a slow bleed that shows no real signs of stemming. Wheeling? Weirton? Man, how they have fallen. All over the state, cities are barely holding on.
I don’t know what the answer is, but it surely can’t be Charleston swallowing up the rest of the Kanawha County.