DAILY MAIL STAFF
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Local governments in the Grand Rapids areaand the Kanawha Valley are not islands alone in the sea - they'reall linked together as parts of their metropolitan areas. Government officials in both metro areas say they see the linksamong cities, towns, townships, villages and counties. And manyofficials say they believe cooperation among the differentgovernmental units in each metro area will ultimately help theregion.
But the forms of cooperation the governments will settle on inthe future are still in question.
In the Kanawha Valley, there are at least three options - andthey are not mutually exclusive - on the table for intergovernmentalcooperation. Charleston Mayor Jay Goldman is pushing metrogovernment, Advantage Valley wants to see regional cooperation, andtwo Kanawha County commissioners have formed an intergovernmentalcooperation work group.
The Grand Rapids area has the Grand Valley Metro Council, agovernmental corporation with 32 local government members thatpushes intergovernmental cooperation. It seems clear that the metrocouncil will be at the center of intergovernmental cooperation inthe future.
But exactly what that means is changing.
'We're at a crossroads,' said Gerry Felix, executive director ofthe metro council. 'We have to decide if we want to be a governmentor not. The members will have to decide.'
Right now, the metro council only operates a computerized mappingservice called the regional geographical information system.Everything else the council does happens in the realm of ideas,negotiation and mediation.
But some think the council should change its approach.
'The big question is: Will we get into operating physicalfacilities or not?' Felix said.
Some believe the council should start operating facilities like aregional water-sewer system, recreation system, trash incinerator,or transportation system. The council could also take a strongerrole in land use planning by becoming the permitting authority forstorm water projects, Felix said.
And Felix has other ideas.
'Maybe the county will give the zoo to the metro council and wecan operate it as a regional facility,' he said.
Felix also believes the council could save area governments a lotof money if it literally acted as a power broker. Right now, eachlocal government buys its own power and distributes it to theresidents.
If the council bought power in bulk and distributed it to cities,the savings could be substantial, he said.
Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie also has ideas for the future ofmetro cooperation in the area. He proposes a metro rebate, underwhich the state would offer a financial incentive for metrogovernment.
Under Logie's proposal, if 75 percent of the population of ametro area agreed to consolidate all governmental services, thestate would send 15 percent to 20 percent of the area's total stateincome tax back to the local governments involved. The more localgovernments involved, the higher the percentage of tax refunded.
The plan would benefit the state as a whole, Logie said, becausestreamlining government saves taxpayers money.
And recently, Mike Washburn, superintendent of the affluentForest Hills School District, suggested another idea forcooperation.
The Grand Rapids area has many school districts and some arebetter off than others. The districts in the center city are poorerthan most. Washburn suggested taking increased revenue from acountywide tax increase to help support the center city schools.
He said a small increase could bring in $300 million, which wouldgo for center city school infrastructure improvements like roofs andboilers.
'I've sort of been a zealot for the last decade on reallybelieving that the future of the area is dependent on the corecity,' Washburn said. 'It's difficult to get people to realize thatthe core city is really going to be critical to everyone.'
Whichever path they choose to take, Grand Rapids area governmentofficials seem to be headed toward further metro cooperation.
In the Kanawha Valley, Kanawha County Commissioners Dave Hardyand Kent Carper have convened an intergovernmental cooperation workgroup they hope will save cities money through joint purchasing ofthings like fuel and health insurance. Hardy said he hopes the planwill help some cities like Huntington and Charleston that havefallen into serious financial straits.
Hardy said there are some things Kanawha County could learn fromGrand Rapids.
'Everything is driven by the area that you're in,' he said. 'Butsome of the broad concepts that they're using up there I think verymuch apply to the situation we have here.'
Joint purchasing programs, the development of economies of scaleand the creation of a formalized group to push cooperation could allbe helpful in Kanawha County, Hardy said.
The first step the county will take toward increased municipalcooperation is joint bidding through the intergovernmentalcooperation work group, Hardy said. KRT, Kanawha County Schools,Charleston and St. Albans are all expected to bid on fuel together,hopefully saving taxpayers money.
Hardy said joint bidding on paving, aggregate, salt and officesupplies could be in the future - and so could a trip to GrandRapids.
'We're thinking about sending some of our people up to visitthem. And Kent Carper and I are even thinking of going up andvisiting,' he said. 'They're a step ahead of us, but we'd like tocatch up.'
Advantage Valley, a group of business, political and educationalleaders, is pushing a regional approach to development along theInterstate 64 corridor, from Charleston to Ashland, Ky.
'Political boundaries, especially at the local level, have littleor no relevance in the global marketplace,' said Advantage Valleyboard member Newton Thomas of the Business and IndustrialDevelopment Corp at the group's January meeting. 'We have to adopt ashared economic development vision. We need to create a criticalmass to have economic growth.'
Advantage Valley has asked state legislators to pass laws thatwould allow counties to develop and market industrial sitestogether. If a company moved into the site, the counties could sharethe tax revenue generated.
Goldman has been pitching what he calls 'metro government' sincehe ran for mayor. He said he'd like Charleston to merge with citieslike South Charleston, Nitro, St. Albans and Dunbar and annex someunincorporated areas like Cross Lanes.
The approach could attract business to the area and savetaxpayers money, Goldman argues. He said joint-purchasing programslike those used in Grand Rapids and proposed by Hardy and Carpercould also help the area.
Charleston City Council Majority Leader Charlie Loeb also namedjoint purchasing as a possible immediate first step toward increasedcooperation among towns in the valley.
Cooperation between Charleston and South Charleston on firecoverage for the Corridor G area would also be beneficial, he said.
'Maybe we don't have their firefighters working out of ourstation, but we should at least have a clear game plan forcooperation,' he said.
The bottom line, Loeb said, is that consolidation saves money.
'The private sector does this. The public sector shouldn't be anydifferent,' he said.
Opinions among Kanawha Valley mayors are split on what form metrocooperation should take. Some mayors, like South Charleston MayorRichie Robb and St. Albans Mayor Jack Gessel, have said they don'twant to see mergers or consolidations involving their cities butwould look at the county's joint purchasing ideas.
'I hope we can stay like we are as long as we can survive,'Gessel said. 'It seems that you get more personal service if you'reyour own community.'
Belle Mayor Larry Conley said he's interested in the county'sjoint purchasing idea but wary of total consolidation.
'I'm sort of undecided on that. I think some of these towns mightlose their identities,' he said.
Clendenin Mayor Evelyn Robertson and Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto havesaid they would not oppose consolidation of their towns with othermunicipalities.
'It would relieve quite a financial burden for the town,'Robertson said. 'Anything that we can save money (on) is a goodidea.'
'I'd rather see everyone consolidate into the county instead ofinto the city of Charleston,' Casto said. 'Other counties have triedit and it seems to work, and I think it's something we need tostudy. Anything to save the taxpayers money.'
Writer Sam Tranum can be reached at 348-4872 or by e-mail atsamt@dailymail.com.
