On unified government

There’s a lot of talk going around about consolidation, unification, etc. There has been for a while, but it’s ramping up even more these last few weeks. There is now a serious group with serious backing, Escambia All For One, that is seeking to achieve, through referendum, City-County consolidation (they prefer the term  “unification”) in the model of Jacksonville-Duval County. Yesterday, Escambia All For One gave a presentation featuring a contingent of public officials from Jacksonville who extolled the benefits and successes of their consolidation.  It was an interesting and worthwhile presentation, although ultimately it only presented half of the story.

The officials painted the consolidation as a seminal event which pulled Jacksonville out of public corruption, inefficiency, environmental issues, etc.  They painted Jacksonville as a remarkably successful city with everything going for it.  While I don’t doubt that consolidation opened a lot of doors, and that Jacksonville has had a lot of success, they really ignored the hardships and struggles of the consolidation process, and the negatives that Jacksonville deals with today, such as high crime.

The picture isn’t quite as peachy as they painted it.

That said, I’m probably more open to the idea of unified government than I was beforehand.

Whether it’s unified government, or simply restructuring City government, the form of government does need to change.  The City of Pensacola’s biggest problem, among a whole host of problems, is its colossal leadership void.  As one of the Jacksonville officials said yesterday, “With shared responsibility, no one is responsible.”  It’s true.  No one is responsible in the current City government.  Issues get batted back-and-forth between Council, City staff, and quasi-governmental agencies like the CRA and DIB, and the buck stops with no one.  There’s no one for citizens can hold accountable when things don’t get done.

So whether it’s unified government, or a reformed City of Pensacola government with a strong mayor-council structure, we need a change, and we need it soon.

Links

• PNJ: Jacksonville touts consolidation
• PNJ: Reginald T. Dogan: Consolidation worked for Duval and it could work for us