Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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City con BY PATRICK TYLER Those students voting in the November election will encounter a referendum on the ballot propos ing a constitutional amendment to merge the governments of Colum bia and Richland County. Columbia Mayor John Campbell and various other city and county officials have come out strongly in favor of the consolidation. Also a special commission empowered by the state legislature to study the problem reported early this year that the two units should be merged citing overlap and dupli cation of functions by the two gov ernments, gaps in urban services and competitiveness as the main reasons for its recommendation. An Associated Press story early this month noted that, Nashville, Tenn., which nationally pioneered governmental consolidations in 1963, has not seen its system catch on as a cure-all for urban problems. Only three other sizable cities have followed suit: Jacksonville, Fla., Columbus, Ga., and Indianapolis, Ind. Of these three cities only one, Jacksonville, has reported a reduc tion of taxes as a result of the con solidation. The list of cities rejecting the con solidated form of government is substantially longer. Chattanooga, Tenn., and the Florida cities of Tampa and Tallahasse have recently turned down such vrovosals. In Dade County, Fla. another mod ification of the city-county merger was tried and went into effect in OK, Man, You're Getting Married. So what else is new? The New Adventurer Wedding Coat by 9X Since you're about to embark on one of life's greatest adventures, * we at Sharpe's thought you two should meet: The Adventurer, After Six's latest r and greatest triumph into groom's wear combines quality with con ,temporary versatility. Wear it with four-in-hand or ascot for a natty before six look . .. or with bow tic for ihe epitome of evening elegance. fither way, y,ou can't go wrong. And on your wedding day, that's a bit of all right ! 3 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS: Five Points Forest Drive Duatch Square Renta I nty mei News 1957. Miami Metro as it is called was formed by the framing of a home-rule charter by the county and was given constitutional approval by the voters of that state. Again the Dade County plan hardly inspired the other cities in similar situations to adopt this plan. Most experts think the reason is that the former city government of Miami became jealous of the new powers of the county and banded together with the small municipalities in the county to attach several amendments to the charter which stripped the new urban government of much of its powers. The fact that the city of Miami was able to muster enough support to curtail the power of this new gov ernment should be stimulus enough for the City of Columbia and Rich land County to consider some of the other methods that have been implemented Of the other plans that have been tried across the country, several have had substantial degrees of suc cess. The "Lakewood Plan" calls for the selling of urban services on a contract basis to areas that are not incorporated in the central city. This plan is in effect in Los Angeles, Cal., and has been effective in financing the services of that met ropolitan area, and in leaving the small municipalities autonomous. This is a major point in opposition to such consolidations. When they occur small municipalities within THE SOUrHEAST" I & Sales ger goes Analysis the realm of the central city loose their right of self-rule, and are sub - jugated to the massive county gov ernment which may not be as responsive to their interests. Across the border in Toronto, Quebec the Canadian government has instituted a plan which brings all the governments of the met ropolitan area together on one coun cil to govern the area. This council takes all the administrative func tions and leaves the smaller mainte nance functions to the individual members. In this method the small municipalities are able also to keep their autonomy while at the same time participating in the over-all governing of the area. From reading the reports and lis tening to the many officials who have become very vocal in favor of this merger, one might get the impression that consolidation of the city and county governments is the only alternative to the present sys tem in the face if the growing urban problems in the Columbia met ropolitan area. This is not so. Of the possible dozen or so methods that have been tried and discussed in cities across the country, only four were dealt with and studied by the commission. After all under the proposal of the commission the merged units of government would operate on two levels: county and city. As a result of this separation of the City of Columbia and the area outside it, and the structuring of the Strong mo bLow it,let our m 'l do our best to Eat on Campus. Universt1 to voters proposed new council that will gov ern the county, the competition between the areas is likely to follow the Miami course and continue, and the council will be dominated by urban oriented members. So why the merger? Since the City of Columbia like most other municipalities in the country is limited by the state constitution as to how much it may tax its inhabi tants to finance its services, it has run into the growing problem of suburbanites who demand urban services, but avoid paying the city taxes that finance those services because they live outside city limits. Also since Columbia is some what restricted in its annexing pow ers, surrounded by several other municipalities (Fort Jackson, West Columbia, Cayce), it cannot bring outside areas into its taxing domain. Thus merger with the county gov ernment has seemed a viable alter native. Since five of the existing city council members will sit on the initial metro council, and a sixth from Forest Acres, they will estab lish themselves as incumbents by the time the first elections roll around for the county government. In effect rural and urban parts of Richland County will both be gov erned by one urban-minded govern ment. uth us. anagers know ft. set things right. r Dining Service.