Several attempts have been made in El Paso to look at consolidating services, but each failed as neither city elected officials nor county elected officials wanted to give up political power. The arguments against consolidation centered on reduced services with little in return for the taxpayers. But there is precedent to consolidation that works. For example, Louisville and Jefferson County. In 2003, Louisville, Kentucky and Jefferson County merged into the Louisville Metro.
The merger came about in the 1990s when business and political leaders looked to address rising government costs and a declining tax base. Twenty-two years later, the results show the government costs have remained stable and fewer government employees deliver the same services prior to the consolidation. Instead of rising costs and growing government-sector employment, the consolidation has kept costs and jobs stable, even though the population has grown.
Another benefit to the taxpayers has been a simplified bureaucracy.
The biggest concern expressed by those who continue to oppose consolidating the Louisville Metro is not rising costs but the loss of political power. A 2006 Houston Law Review (see below) article looked at the perception of the loss of political power among the Black population. According to the article, “cities represent the areas where racial minorities have developed and garnered political power.” The article opined that in the case of Louisville Metro, some felt that the Black minority had lost political power because their base had been fragmented by the consolidation. The research, however, did not identify any loss of access to voting rights, instead expressing that the consolidation may have reduced the influence of Black voters through traditional Democratic Party access.
Although some activists continue to place blame on the consolidation as the reason for an erosion of Black political power, there are indicators that there is more to the issue than the loss of political power. Opponents point to Louisville having never elected a Black mayor as proof that consolidation eroded political power for the Black communities.
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But the problem may not be an issue of ethnicity blocking people of color from being mayor, but simply a case of changing demographics. Louisville’s population is shifting towards the suburbs moving out of historically Black communities. In essence, Louisville has become “less segregated.”
As the neighborhoods become less segregated a center of political power that had 59% Black voters in the past may now have less than 48%. Making the argument that reducing segregation disempowers the Black communities ignores the underlining issue about segregation – the access to housing and related economic scales regardless of skin color.
But in the case of El Paso, both the Hispanic majority (ethnic minority in American politics) and the strength of the local Democratic Party negates any adverse effects that consolidation may lead to along the lines of ethnicity.
Several other communities have successfully consolidated city and county governments leading to stronger cities, for example Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville consolidated with Duval County in 1968. Interestingly and germane to El Paso is that the Jacksonville consolidation was the result of corruption scandals, much like El Paso’s Poisoned Pawns scandals a few years back.
Today, Jacksonville ranks third in the nation for economic growth.
Clearly consolidating the City of El Paso with the County of El Paso would result in tax savings for the homeowners and an increased economy. All it would require is the political will to do so.
Article referenced: Kristine Clarke, “Voting rights & City-County Consolidations,” Houston Law Review, October 23, 2006.