Job loss fears slow government consolidations

Dec. 16, 2004

Darrin Stineman

Harris News Service

Kansas' 134,000 local government jobs and the $362 million they inject into local economies would be in little danger if the state had an outbreak of governmental consolidation, said Steven Maynard-Moody, director of the Policy Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

Eliminating redundancy of jobs in city and county governments is a major reason for local governments to consolidate, but job losses would not be significant enough to hinder local economies, Maynard-Moody said.

"I suspect that the proportion of jobs that you would really lose ... is pretty small," he said. "I suspect the impact on local economies is going to be negligible."

Worries about how the paring of payrolls might affect local economies isn't a reason to avoid consolidation, said Maynard-Moody, who also is a professor of public administration at the University of Kansas.

"It is true that a lot of efficiencies are gained by having fewer people having to work," he said. "I guess I'm loathe to think that we're going to remain inefficient just to support people in certain jobs."

Or, as League of Kansas Municipalities Executive Director Don Moler put it, government jobs "are good jobs, yes. But having government for the sake of government isn't what we're about."

Carol Marinovich felt so strongly about the need for governmental consolidation in Wyandotte County that she ran for mayor of Kansas City, Kan., with the intention of eliminating the office she sought.

"I ran on two things, consolidation and revitalization, because I had seen from the research I had done that for consolidation to move forward, you need political leadership," said Marinovich, who now is mayor and CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. "I didn't feel the current mayor really pushed it."

When Wyandotte County made the switch in 1997, the positions of Kansas City mayor and Wyandotte County treasurer, clerk and surveyor were eliminated, as were the seats of six city council members and three county commissioners. A new 10-member unified government commission was elected.

Government jobs in Wyandotte County, though, were eliminated through attrition - not layoffs. And consolidation spurred economic development, Marinovich said.

Wyandotte County, one of the state's poorest counties, scored the economic boon called Village West, now the state's top tourist destination. Village West, northwest of the intersection of I-70 and I-435, includes the Kansas Speedway, a Cabela's superstore, the Great Wolf Lodge and a 4,500-seat minor league baseball park.

"I strongly believe if we didn't have a consolidated government, we wouldn't have Kansas Speedway and Village West," Marinovich said. "If we hadn't had a consolidated government, the city could've been lobbying for it in the Legislature and the county could've been lobbying against it. Having one single voice of local government, I think, was extremely beneficial."

 

Some talk, little action

Tom Weigand, president of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, said his community has talked about consolidation from time to time and instituted it in small ways, such as a cooperative 911 service. If Franklin County governments did consolidate, Weigand said he wouldn't expect much loss of government employment.

"I don't think it would be a noticeable effect," he said. "I don't see it as a big budget-saver. Maybe some, but not a lot."

But Weigand doesn't see full-scale consolidation coming to Franklin County.

"It comes up from time to time, but the city is not that interested," he said. "I would think it would be difficult (to pass)."

That scene plays out elsewhere in Kansas.

There hasn't been serious talk of unifying governments in Hutchinson and Reno County, said Meryl Dye, special assistant to the Hutchinson city manager. The two entities have melded some law-enforcement operations, however, such as record-keeping and central dispatch.

"I think there was talk about consolidating the police and sheriff's office," Dye said, "but there wasn't enough support for that."

While consolidation worked well for Wyandotte County, Marinovich said it's not a one-size-fits-all proposition.

"I'm only familiar with Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County, and having dual city and county government didn't make sense for us," she said. "I've seen it benefit my community, but whether or not other communities consolidate, that's up to them."