Published: November 05, 2009 09:52 pm      

Leaders say metro plan is dead in W.Va. capital

CHARLESTON — Despite a new law designed to help metro government come to West Virginia’s largest county, leaders say the idea is dead.

Charleston Mayor Danny Jones and Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper say there’s not enough public support to consolidate county and municipal governments so they won’t pursue the issue.

“This is not going anywhere,” Jones said Thursday during a metro government committee meeting. “It’s time to move on.”

Several West Virginia cities and counties have discussed merging as a way to control costs and eliminate duplication of services.

This year, the Legislature allowed counties with at least 150,000 people and a major city to opt for metro government with a simple majority, instead of 55 percent of the vote. In effect, the law only applies to Kanawha County, which has about 191,000 residents. Charleston has 50,846, according to the U.S. Census.

Jones and Carper, though, say there’s no chance of convincing rural residents or towns like South Charleston, who’ve opposed the idea from the start.

Last year, Carper led a delegation of county mayors to Louisville, Ky., to see how consolidated government could work. Louisville and Jefferson County merged in 2003 and the city is run by a mayor and district council.

Despite the trip, Carper said county residents continue to have a negative impression about metro government because they don’t understand how it would work.

“Maybe we need to change the name to ‘community government,”’ he said.

House of Delegates member Ron Walkers, R-Kanawha, said he’s heard from residents living in unincorporated areas of his northern Kanawha County district who are opposed to becoming affiliated with Charleston.

State Sen. Brooks McCabe, who has been the leading advocate of metro government, said he believes Charleston and Kanawha County can still benefit from metro-style government.

“I don’t plan on giving up,” said McCabe, D-Kanawha. “We’ve got to come forward with a proposal that can be readily understood” and then show how it can be implemented.

In the meantime, Carper suggested that Charleston and Kanawha County continue to look for ways to consolidate services.

The city and county have already merged 911 emergency communications and housing authorities.