Advocates, leaders praise Wyandotte County consolidation

In the shadow of Kansas Speedway lies Village West, a newly formed business district near I-70 and 110th Streets in Kansas City, Kan. The popular shopping scene includes retail giants Nebraska Furniture Mart and Cabela's. The area is cited by "UniGov" city government as a positive reflection of the merger of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan. city governments in 1997. Called "UniGov" by locals, the Unified Government was created to curb problems afflicting the region such as soaring taxes, bickering among city officials and allegations of political corruption.

Dec. 17, 2004

Chris Grenz

Harris News Service

TOPEKA - A decade ago, Kansas City, Kan., was a community in chaos.

Wyandotte County was hemorrhaging population as residents fled a dying urban core. Those left behind footed the bills through ever-soaring taxes. There were allegations of political corruption amid a crescendo of infighting among elected leaders.

"It was just a den of finger pointing, screaming and hollering and everybody blaming everybody," said Mike Jacobi, a Kansas City real estate agent. "We fought over virtually everything. There was everything bad you could imagine."

Jacobi, who has never held elected office, and a friend, Kevin Kelley, who works at Donnelly College in Kansas City, decided to push for radical change. They wondered if unifying the county and city governments could address the problems, quell the fighting and save their community.

"It was that or move, along with everyone else," Jacobi said.

Consolidation was a long shot - and one Jacobi admits he didn't know much about. But working together, he and Kelley sowed the seeds for a grassroots campaign that grew to a groundswell of support.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan. - called "UniGov" by locals - officially began in 1997, making it the most extensive local government consolidation in Kansas. Now, more than seven years later, the consensus appears to be that politicians and voters made the right move.

Duplicate government positions have been eliminated, property tax rates have been reduced by about 25 percent, and under a united vision of economic development, the long-declining county has seen unprecedented growth.

But getting past political pitfalls and turf battles to make consolidation a reality is a story of unflinching leadership among risk-taking elected leaders, perseverance at the grassroots level, back-room deals, special circumstances unique to the county - and a little bit of luck.

"It was a miracle," Jacobi said. "It's probably the best thing that's happened to us."

 

Getting it done

Wyandotte County is home to about 160,000 residents, most of whom live in Kansas City. A single important factor helped make unification a reality, many believe - there virtually was no unincorporated land left in the county when the governments merged. All but a handful of residents lived in Kansas City, Bonner Springs or Edwardsville, three cities that sprawled across nearly every square inch of the county.

But that fact alone didn't make it easy. The first step in the five-year effort was getting local support.

Among the first to get on board was Carol Marinovich, a Kansas City councilwoman who ran for mayor under the old form of government on a pro-consolidation platform. Favoring consolidation carried considerable political risk, but she believed it was necessary in order for the area to progress.

Marinovich, now wrapping up her second four-year term as mayor and CEO of the unified government, handily won her mayoral campaign in April 1995 and began to build consensus for change.

Next, lawmakers had to approve the county's plan. While outwardly expressing support, some local politicians and legislators - Democrats who stood to lose power and influence - secretly worked behind the scenes to kill the plan and protect their turf, Marinovich said.

Eager to make a deal, Marinovich, also a Democrat, called then-Sen. Mark Parkinson, a moderate Republican from Olathe who headed the committee that would consider the plan, and asked for a meeting.

The bipartisan group, along with the mayors of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville and a lobbyist for the League of Kansas Municipalities, gathered one weekend afternoon in Lawrence and hammered out an agreement.

Then-Gov. Bill Graves, another moderate Republican, got on board and the local opponents lost influence, Marinovich said. Ultimately, the deal passed the Legislature.

 

The plan

Once lawmakers approved consolidation, a study commission put together a plan. The seven-member city council for Kansas City and the three-member Wyandotte County Commission would be abolished.

In its place, a 10-member board of commissioners was established with four-year terms and non-partisan elections. Eight members are elected by district while two are elected at-large.

The mayor and CEO, also elected countywide, can vote to break a tie, has veto power and appoints a county administrator, with consent of the commission.

Under the agreement, Bonner Springs and Edwardsville are allowed to maintain their independence with city councils while also being represented on the new county board.

Voters approved the formula by a 2-1 margin, giving leaders six months to put the new government together while many simultaneously campaigned for newly created positions.

 

Growing pains

Merging the city and county governments was complicated. Under the terms of the deal, tax rates couldn't be increased, no layoffs were allowed and no one could take a pay cut.

New rules were crafted related to hiring, firing and promotions, pay scales were adjusted and benefits packages were standardized.

"There were people who were hesitant at the beginning," said Sen. Mark Gilstrap, D-Kansas City, who worked at City Hall for more than two decades before the merger and now is the deputy revenue director for the Unified Government.

"Employees were apprehensive," he said. "There was some resistance from some departments. But I am convinced that it was a good thing for us to do."

 

Reaping the rewards

The consolidation led to more efficient government, officials said. Without a single layoff, the government shed more than 500 positions through attrition. It blended departments and created what insiders say is a smoother operation.

But the real reward of consolidation, local leaders say, is more than $1 billion in economic development that has emerged since the changeover.

The Kansas Speedway, a NASCAR track that attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually, has opened near the intersection of I-70 and I-435. The area has become a booming retail hub, known as Village West, which features Nebraska Furniture Mart, Cabela's and large hotels. More development, including a proposed casino, is on the drawing board.

Many believe the growth wouldn't have occurred without unification. The old governments were too dysfunctional and constantly at odds, they said.

"The city government and the county government were at war with one another and we could never get anything accomplished," said Rep. Rick Rehorn, D-Kansas City, who was chairman of a bipartisan group of citizens who worked to pass consolidation. "After we consolidated, we spoke with one voice."

 

Working out the bugs

Consolidation hasn't been flawless. Rehorn, who plans to resign his House seat in December in order to run for mayor in 2005, said not all aspects of local government truly have been consolidated.

He also believes more economic development potential exists.

And, the county is a victim of its own success: property valuations have skyrocketed with the local economic boom.

"There are still some problems," Rehorn said. "This is a brand-new form of government in Kansas. It's a work in progress."

Mark Peterson, an assistant professor of political science at Washburn University who has extensively studied various forms of local government, agreed that the unified government hasn't come together perfectly.

There is still an elected sheriff and a municipal police department. The move to nonpartisan elections didn't put a stop to all political infighting. And some county residents outside Kansas City aren't happy about paying high taxes to help shore up the urban core.

"But from the standpoint of being able to raise all boats, UniGov has been good," Peterson said. "The whole notion behind unified government, of course, is sort of a reflection of the realization among a lot of people that times have changed. It is an effort to get rural residents who are using urban services and paying nothing for them to pay their fair share."

 

Streamlined services

Community activist Ian Bautista, a Wyandotte County native who heads El Centro, which offers assistance and advocacy to Hispanic families, said the new form of government has made his job easier.

"It's refreshing to not have to go office to office to office to get one project accomplished," he said. "You have one set of administrators to work with and that's it. It's quite a bit more efficient."

But the key result of consolidation is not unified government, Marinovich said. It's unified vision and leadership.

"Before, we had to put a Band-Aid on problems. Now we can say, 'How do we address them long term?' It's amazing what you can do when you have one single vision and one single voice for a local government."