Merging counties

[Ding-Dong]

Mergers are inevitable in rural America

(From a different thread by Flintauqua)

I am wondering if Elk and Chautauqua counties will ever merge again.  It makes good business sense to me.

[jprxmkt]

We can't get people within Elk county to work together, I don't know that it would ever be possible for 2 whole counties to work together. Sad but true. (my opinion)

[Dale Smith]

Try getting just one county fair, and see if you can go from there.  LOL

[jprxmkt]

AMEN!! LOL

[Rudy Taylor]

Merging counties is almost impossible from a political standpoint. Yes, it does make sense but what if the courthouse went to Sedan or Eureka? I think we'd all be screaming.

It's a "not in my backyard" dilemma --- and one that our grandchildren will still be trying to solve.

By the way, I love reading about the colorful beginnings of Elk County. What a bunch of mavericks they were!

[Flintauqua]

I don't know Rudy . . . .

The state is thinking about the idea (spending money to study consolidation of units of government).  Check out the Kansas Department of Revenue site on Intergovernmental Relations:

http://www.ksrevenue.org/kacir.htm

They are studying both township elimination and city-county and county-county consolidation.

Of course, the state has studied this idea before.  When I interned in the Kansas House in the early 90's, I was able to have access to the legislative library.  One publication that caught my eye one day was a study on county consolidation from the 50's or 60's that included a map of what Kansas would look like with 35 counties.

On this map, Greenwood, Elk and Chautauqua counties had ceased to exist.  The map had the division line between Montgomery and Cowley, and between a Wilson/Woodson combo and Butler running straight north and south along the section line that K99 follows from Howard to Severy.  The Butler/Cowley line was extended to this N/S Line, as was the Montgomery/Wilson line.  Under this scenario, Howard proper was in Cowley, as were Moline and Grenola.  P&J's and everything else east of 99 was in Wilson/Woodson.  The Howard sewer lagoons was in Butler, and Elk Falls and Longton were in Montgomery.

My advice now, as in the past, is to be pro-active and take the bull by the horns, rather than wait to react once the legislature decides 105 counties is too many.

[pepelect]

Combining anything is always an uphill battle.  From schools to families it is hard to see the benifit of the group instead of the wants of the individual. 

But if we merged on our terms there would be more local input and say in what and how it was done.   Take for instance the EMS/EMT delima...  EK, CQ, and GW all have  something to offer in the area of first responders.  Both the north and south  have hospitals that can be reached within the golden hour from any of the three counties.   
The fire departments could be better equipped with cooperation from all three counties.   I have never had any dealings with GW county but with the combined extension, FSA, and now the Prairie Star maybe there should be a renewed interest in the development of a shared govt.  So much of the information could be processed on line at any location. 

With GPS and sat tracking you could deploy and manage road equipment, ambulance, fire and police from one central location. 

If SG county can keep up with half a million we should be able to process a few thousand.  We have twice as much sense as those city slickers.

[Flintauqua]

In reviewing several of my previous posts, I would in all seriousness like to pose this question to all my fellow forum members.  Am I "killing" threads with my posts, specifically when I include a link to a map or official website, etc.? 

I know all threads do come to an end, but it just seems an awful lot of them (other than ones in Games) end with a post from me, or just after a post from me.

Am I overthinking this, or are threads I post to endangered species?

Sincerely,

Charles / Flintauqua

[Joanna]

Ha! You're a funny guy!  As if anyone has that power!  If that worked, I'd con you into stopping a couple threads I don't expecially care for    (As it is, I just don't read them anymore and that works fine.)

I understand and even appreciate the links you provide, but often just don't want to delve into the details.  I prefer a short summary and the link just gives me backup if I find the information too incredible...  It is good to have your facts there so if someone interprets the info differently, they know exactly what to disagree with (and what defenses you have.) 

I can't imagine that you are the blade that cuts threads though ~ too many of us feel the strong need to get in the last word 
Unless, of course, we just don't want to think about the topic anymore, or attention is pulled away to some other topic.

On the topic of merging, I wouldn't be against it... They would have to put in sattelite offices throught the newly larger counties to make things accessible (as they already do in some counties around here)  I am not activley in support of it either, but I don't think it's exactly Big Brother taking over the world.  I do think it would be ridiculous to make new county lines, merging entire counties makes much more sense to me...  However I haven't researched it thoroughly either, it doesn't seem like a likely event in the near future (to me).

[dnalexander]

Charles / Flintauqua. I read your post late last night but was to tired to reply. Maybe your posts are just so brilliantly constructed that nothing further needs to be said. There by effectively ending the thread. Just like Joanna I have a few threads that I would like you to post on.

David