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by Joe Sullivan

The stars are coming into a propitious alignment for consolidation of our city and county governments—not this year or next, but in 2008.

To be sure, it won’t be easy to overcome the sources of opposition that have defeated consolidation in four prior referendums, most recently in 1996. But there are several forces working for consolidation now that weren’t present in the past. And if a community can learn from its mistakes, there are also several pitfalls to be avoided that contributed to those prior defeats.

Topping the list of affirmative developments is the fact that both Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale and Knoxville’s Mayor Bill Haslam are staunch supporters of consolidation who can be expected to campaign ardently for its approval. By contrast, last time around, then County Executive Tommy Schumpert and Mayor Victor Ashe did little more than pay lip service to the cause. Moreover, Ashe’s support, such as it was, was actually detrimental to the effort because his aggressive annexations had made him almost a bogeyman in sectors outside the city, where fear of more of the same became a prime source of opposition. (Under the State Constitution, consolidation must be approved both by a majority of voters inside the city limits and a majority of voters outside, and while it has carried the city in the past, it has always failed outside.)

Ragsdale’s progressive agenda and energized advocacy has gained him popularity in all parts of the forest—to the point where he’s a cinch to be reelected in 2006 probably without opposition. Beyond that, the county mayor, by all reports, has his sights set on becoming governor in 2010, and therein lies a rub. How can he both campaign for governor, which is a full-time job, and continue to run Knox County government? The answer is that leading a successful campaign for consolidation in 2008 would serve both as a capstone to his record of accomplishment here and free him up to parlay it into a well-credentialed gubernatorial campaign, once a unified Knox government is elected and takes office in 2009.

Haslam, for his part, is convinced that consolidation is the best solution to the fiscal problems facing the city. These center on the city’s lack of room for growth that constrain its revenues in relation to inexorable increases in expenses. By the end of his term on 2007, though, he’s committed to revamping city government sufficiently to get it on a more nearly even keel. And allowing time for this is essential to avoid the perception that he’s looking to subsidize the city with revenues derived from the rapidly growing areas outside the limits. If Haslam remains anything like as popular as he is today, he, too, is a cinch to be reelected in 2007. And by ruling out involuntary annexations, he should make a very appealing candidate for metro mayor in 2009.

Another way in which the political climate has turned more favorable is that City Council members are now term limited. In 1996, several council members are believed to have lobbied privately against consolidation in order to preserve their seats. But the five council members elected in 2001 can serve only until 2009, and other four will become term limited in 2011. Hence, there won’t be nearly as much vested interest in thwarting creation of a unified legislative body whose composition will likely be based on present County Commission districts.

Then, there’s the influence of Sheriff Tim Hutchison to be reckoned with. Hutchison spearheaded the opposition in 1996, in large part because the charter provided for appointing rather than electing the chief law enforcement officer and precluded anyone lacking a college degree (which Hutchison lacks) from even applying for the job.

A recent campaign fundraiser removed any doubt that Hutchison intends to run again in 2006 for what would be his fifth term as sheriff. Since he’d previously been talking in terms of retirement, it’s anybody’s guess what he will do in the future, but there’s at least some basis for believing he won’t have the same stake, or sway, in thwarting consolidation in 2008 that he did in 1996. Nonetheless, the issue of whether the “top cop” should be elected or appointed will remain a pivotal one with voters outside the city favoring the former and city dwellers to the latter.

The mistakes to be avoided list starts with laying a foundation for consolidation much farther in advance of a referendum than was the case the last time. Former County Commissioner Frank Leuthold, who served on the 1996 Charter Commission, is convinced that failure to plan for combining the various departments of city and county government well ahead of the vote contributed to its demise. “Government employees and their families vote, and there was a fear of the unknown that caused them to vote against it that could have been avoided,” he contends.

By most reckonings, consolidation won’t beget any layoffs to speak of in the short run, and longer-term efficiencies and economies of scale will only be reflected in the work force through attrition. This time around, much closer relations between the city and county mayors than existed in the 1990s will assure collaboration that can let people know where they stand.

Also to be avoided is the appearance that consolidation is being thrust on ordinary folks from on high by an oligarchy of business leaders. The precursor to the formation of the 1996 Charter Commission was the recommendations of a five-member committee of the Chamber of Commerce headed by the chairman of First Tennessee Bank, Larry Martin. Then, the commission itself was chaired by yet another mogul, Sam Furrow. Martin and Furrow are both exemplary, civic-minded individuals, but they symbolized a top-down approach to governance which was exacerbated by the patronizing style of the man who became unification’s chief propagandist, now TVA director Bill Baxter.

What’s needed instead is an inclusive public process of assessing the merits and shaping the terms of consolidation, and it needs to be set in motion sooner rather than later. A steering committee that includes representation from places like Halls and Powell and Karns that have been indisposed in the past, along with all other sectors of the community, is essential as are public hearings.

In Louisville, Ky., where consolidation votes had failed twice in the 1980s, just such a committee was formed in 1998. There, African American and blue-collar opposition had been the stumbling blocks, but the committee’s work allayed their concerns, and consolidation prevailed in a 2001 referendum.

All of this is not to say that consolidation is an end to be achieved by any means. For my own part, I believe it has a lot to recommend it, but there are also many sticky issues and concerns that need to be addressed. Space constraints will have to make those the subject of a separate column.

June 17, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 25 © 2004 Metro Pulse