It's been a year since officials proposed a referendum on governments' consolidation
Thursday, April 02, 2009
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It was pitched as a historic moment when, a year ago tomorrow, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl called for a prompt referendum on merging the region's two biggest governments.
With no concrete movement toward a referendum, it now seems to some like a false start.
"I do think that [call for a referendum] was premature," said state Rep. Dan Frankel, who has convened occasional meetings on consolidation. "Unless you address the city's underlying financial challenges, such as its debt load and pension issues, I think it's unrealistic to think that people will be supportive of consolidation."
City and county leaders said yesterday that they don't want to wait, but can't hold a referendum without the Legislature's OK.
Mr. Onorato "continues to push legislators" to allow a consolidation referendum, said his spokesman, Kevin Evanto. "We do need the legislators to embrace the legislation and move forward" before the public can vote.
With Mr. Ravenstahl on the May 19 Democratic primary ballot, the issue is in play politically. He has blamed Republican legislators for stalling the referendum, and they have blamed him.
At stake, according to consolidation backers, is the coherence of the region's vision. That was the pitch made in a 21-page primer on consolidation released a year ago by a 13-member committee led by University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg.
The plan was to have a county mayor run both governments, while the other 129 municipalities remained independent. The city's unique needs and debts would be dealt with by making its 55 square miles an "urban services district" with special services and taxes.
When the report came out, and won the support of a long-skeptical mayor, Mr. Onorato called it "a golden opportunity to really change the governments of this region for the next 100 years."
This week, civic leaders were wondering whether they were in for a century of change or just a decade of debate.
"We're hoping this isn't on a 10-year track, but these are very serious issues," said Morgan O'Brien, president of Duquesne Light Co. and chairman of the policy committee at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. "Having one voice, one vision of our region is compelling to most business people."
The business-oriented conference was expected to lend lobbying power to a city-county push for referendum legislation.
The conference, though, has come to believe that pension reform is "the critical step in this process," as Mr. O'Brien put it.
The city's pension fund, at last report, held 29 percent of what it ideally should -- down from 45 percent a year ago. County pensions were 82 percent funded.
Mr. Ravenstahl has proposed leasing city parking garages and using the money to fill the pension fund, and has asked for changes in how the state supports local pension funds. He doesn't think consolidation should be put on the back burner until the pension problem is solved, said Yarone Zober, city chief of staff.
When the mayor announced his re-election bid March 9, Item 5 on his 11-point plan was "City/County merger."
Mr. Ravenstahl said he and Mr. Onorato were "trying to get the delegation in Harrisburg to move. ... There have been some, specifically on the Republican side at this point, that have balked at giving us the opportunity to do so."
State Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, called his singling out of Republicans "offensive to me."
"He's got to learn how to communicate with the Legislature," she said. "I have yet to see the mayor, quite frankly, provide us some type of plan on what he plans to do with [the city's] debt."
The principal on the city's debt is $725 million. Ms. Orie said any effort to merge the city and county, while keeping their debts and pension funds separate, could violate the state constitution.
Mr. Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, said consolidation talk meets with "pervasive skepticism among my colleagues, regardless of party."
He said an ad hoc legislative committee on the region's governance expects the city and county to provide "some type of legislation that might be the start of discussion" on a referendum.
In the meantime, Mr. Zober said consolidations of parts of city and county government, such as electricity buying and commodities purchasing, have saved $6 million. On the drawing board is a merger of the city's financial management system into the county's -- a move that would immediately save the city the hundreds of thousands of dollars it spends yearly on a payroll service.
Consolidation is an area of sharp disagreement in the mayor's race.
"If I were mayor, I would definitely be out advancing it," said Councilman Patrick Dowd, a mayoral challenger, adding that he'd ensure that the city has "a strong voice" in a new government, and that its debt and pension problems were addressed.
"I totally disagree with the consolidation of the county and the city," said Carmen Robinson, an attorney and former police sergeant also trying to unseat the mayor. It would end city sovereignty, dilute minority representation, and raise the cost of government, she predicted.
Last year's announcement, she said, was all politics. "I believe Ravenstahl believed he'll be in charge if Onorato ran for governor and won."
Karamagi Rujumba contributed to this report. Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.
First published on April 2, 2009 at 12:00 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09092/960088-181.stm
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