Merger of 3 cities infeasible and undesirable

Your recent editorial suggesting that Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey merge into a single city misses some important points.

First, it is a virtual certainty that the voters of the three cities would not approve a merger. Thus, any merger attempt would be a waste of time and money.

Second, a number of local services are already provided jointly. The biggest cost-saver is the LOTT sewage treatment utility. Others include bus service (IT), the Medic I system, the 9-1-1 emergency reporting system, libraries, and Animal Services. Furthermore, services like police, fire, and transportation planning are highly coordinated among the jurisdictions.

Third, the correction of crazy city borders can be done without merging the cities. The weird Carlyon-North border that you cited has already been corrected by the Olympia and Tumwater school districts, in cooperation with the Carlyon-North Neighborhood Association.

Last and not least, there are advantages to having separate cities. Smaller governments are more accessible to the public. And separate cities can experiment with different approaches to local problems and opportunities. Bigger is not always better. For instance, the last time Olympia residents were polled for an update of the comprehensive plan, the factor they said they cared most about is the “small town feel” of the city.

By working together, issue by issue, we can improve all of our local governments. The grand panacea of merger is infeasible and likely not better anyhow.