THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601250017
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Why not have all the cities in the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, which essentially is everything south of Yorktown to the Carolina line, merge into one efficient government with a name that already is familiar to a large number of people? This could be a government that offers significant economies of scale in purchasing and management; a government that could have the best interests of the whole region as its reason for being, without petty turf wars; a government that would provide better service at a lower cost to the citizens; and, yes, a government with a name that can be recognized, without coaching and prompting, by folks in other states. Why not something like Norfolk?
Would this merger be easy and quick? No. Would consolidating all the records at the several courthouses to a single easily searchable electronic database happen overnight? No. Would equalizing tax rates for all citizens who receive the same level of efficient government service be easy? No. But wouldn't it make sense in this age of ``get big or get out'' to merge the local governments into a modern, efficient unit?
This new super city would keep local employees in local offices where it makes sense to do so; to solve local problems. The super city would also have centralized efficiency where it makes sense too, and low cost through elimination of redundant departments and personnel.
Why can't the benefits of merger and consolidation which virtually all private businesses have accomplished in the past several years apply to the several feudal local governments - a sqabbling gaggle that seems to spend more effort on local turf wars than it does on forward progress? That is the real reason no one knows what or where ``Hampton Roads'' is.
DAVE CONLON
Carrollton, Jan. 18, 1996 by CNB