Downtown Declines Continued Post Consolidation
Here are some excerpts from the study. The overall conclusion is basically that no significant changes came from consolidation. The charts and graphs tell the story if you wish to spare yourself the academic language.
“Since the onset of merger, we cannot discern any unusual boost in per capita income, employment, numbers of business establishments, and the like.”
“Two years after merger, the question was asked of residents, “Would you say that, overall, the merger has made you better off or worse off?†Of respondents, 13.0% reported they were better off, 9.4% reported they were worse off, 8.6% indicated they “did not know,†and 69.1% reported they were about the same.”
“Economic promises that were integral to institutional change have not materialized. Nevertheless, elites acted as if the promised boom had occurred and, in fact, behaved as though the local economy had exceeded economic expectations.”
“At the airport visitors were greeted by the mayor’s ebullient voice welcoming them to America’s 16th largest city. He and other officials made the same claim at personal appearances and recorded programs. The U.S. Census Bureau saw matters differently, and its published listings show consolidated Louisville as the 27th largest city. In reality, the metropolitan areas remained the same. The only change that occurred was the circle around which the city defined itself.”
“What explains this pattern of behavior? At the simplest, we can say that politicians and business leaders do not like to acknowledge they may have been mistaken.”
“In the absence of being able to justify economic conditions, elites constructed their own justification with rhetorical remakes or an appeal to symbol. Rhetorical remakes were used to assemble results, treating merger as if its achievements were either a foregone conclusion or had already been attained.12 The rhetoric was so pervasive that any possibilities for a less than flattering result were quickly foreclosed.”
“the city fought so hard with the Census Bureau to be listed as the 16th largest city. The initial campaign promised voters that Louisville would attain 16th place. When it failed to win that appellation, the new government continued to advertise itself as the 16th largest city in America and lobbied the bureau to change its own ranking.”
“our study raises doubt that city–county consolidation can enhance local economic development. Thus far we see no evidence showing benefits for premerged Louisville, and some of the data suggest it is worse off.”
“These experiences teach us that values and local culture trump abstract expectations. Institutions are tools that can be used to make policy, but local culture shapes its content and direction. Any city considering merger should first examine where newly formed values lie, whether giving up central city autonomy is worth the return, and how enduring are the benefits to be derived.”
Here is a link to the 27 page study conducted by the University of Louisville on the tangible statistics of the 4 years before vs. the four years after Louisville voted in consolidated government.
Thank you for the link to the Louisville study.
There is a select committee convening in Louisville to consider the continuation or discontinuation of consolidation. I know someone on the committee who told me their first meeting is in April, I believe. It will be interesting to see whether the committee recommends continuation or discontinuation of Louisville’s consolidation of governments.
I’ve used up my letter for the month, could you work something up for a letter to the editorc/p? I hadn’t heard of Louisville’s hopes of reversing their merger. Probably see you at the cco luncheon?
Lies! It’s all lies! It must be! Natasha Kasha told me so in a dream! Consolidation is panacea! It’s the Garden of Eden! It’s a fancy box of chocolates! You may not know what you are getting in any given piece until you actually get to bite into it but, because the price tag is so high, it has to be all good! This is a communist manifesto written by a bunch of socialist, pinko, liberals at some Marxist university! Natasha Kasha says so and Natasha never lies!
I expect the local elites will continue to “Lie” right up there with the best of them, as they drive for Power over the entire county, and toss the “obstacle” of the checks and balances of our president form of government into the Trash bin.
News Flash,– We are not buying the lies they are “Selling”!
This Louisville study is only one data point, but I think it’s an important one that needs to be a part of our discussions. It’s excellent that you present it here to your readership.
The Louisville study goes on to point out how politicians have little to lose by pursuing consolidation. This point is elaborated more at the West Siders Against Annexationwebsite.
So nice to see an editorial that quotes research. No made up YES soundbites; especially since that research is so on point and clearly demonstrates the reasons why no one should be fooled into voting for the reorganization. Just VOTE NO
I just don’t know, so I’m voting NO. I’m voting NO because it’s a trust issue. Sad. A message to CCO, if you start doing obits and classifieds I can knock the Courier off my favorites list.
And yet in today’s Editoral the C & P are yet again promoting a vote Yes. Thank you CCO for bring us some facts. VOTE NO!!!!!
The Courier & Press editor uses the headline “Vote Yes! to bring the community into the 21st century.”
That would be fine and dandy if in fact the plan was one that indeed brought Evansville-Vanderburgh into the 21st Century. But it doesn’t.
All the plan really does is install a strong mayor, vertically aligned, top down, boss hog system, aka 17th Century burgermeister government. Talk about horse and buggy!
If the Courier & Press wanted a truly modern, professional government, why didn’t the C&P promote an elected executive board who then hired a professional municipal manager? Why didn’t the C&P promote non-partisan elections? Why didn’t the C&P promote staggered common council terms to facilitate continuity between administrations and avoid wholesale turnover likely to occur due to national trend voting during an off-year congressional election?
Why didn’t the Courier and Press take a stand against the non-merger of law enforcement, the largest two agencies of local government? How horse and buggy was that political faux pas, to let a special interest group derail a true merger plan?
This plan will not bring the community into the 21st Century, as the Courier and Press editor falsely promotes it. This plan is a politically expedient plan that will facilitate old school political control by special interest groups like the Chamber of Commerce influence peddlers and union PAC power brokers.
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