After reading the "Government for Growth" study we are tempted to say, "There they go again."
After all, there's not a whole lot new in this 25-page report that hasn't been said in predecessor reports urging the citizens of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to free themselves of the chains of parochialism our leaders say shackle us to an 18th-century governance model.
Tempted, yes, but we shall refrain. Let's all start anew.
The report's highlight is a recommendation to place before voters a referendum that, if approved, would consolidate the county and city. The idea is that economies of scale will promote reduced government costs. It's a great theory but the real-world results are muddled. We're still talking about government after all.
Just as important, the report recommends that debt be kept segregated, thus, blunting criticism that consolidation is a subterfuge to have county taxpayers bail out the heavily indebted city. That said, nobody's yet talking specifically about how those debts would be retired.
Consolidation is no be-all and end-all; government must fundamentally change how it does the people's business. It doesn't, the people will only be paying for a bigger and more expensive mess.
It's difficult to imagine how the usual suspects who've left us such a mess already and now are chanting "Consolidation!" can suddenly change their stripes. But we shall see.
