Fast Tracked City-County Merger Plan is Now a Train Wreck

Prospects for merging the governments of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County in the foreseeable future were dealt a crippling, possibly fatal, blow last week. After meeting to discuss the issue, members of the County’s state legislative delegation, mostly Democrats, reported they aren’t ready to support the legislation needed to pave the way for a referendum question to be placed on the ballot. In effect, they were saying what the Allegheny Institute has been trying to get across since the release of the much ballyhooed Nordenberg Report—the latest task force to call for a government merger. The Nordenberg plan is extremely sketchy, leaves far too many important questions unanswered and has failed to gather the level of public support needed to have any chance of voter approval, even if some of the more serious unanswered questions are addressed. Continue