Just as Richmond Heights and Clayton near the end of their joint study on merging the cities, legislation has been introduced in Jeff City allowing for the consideration of merging the governments of the City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County. Kudos to the local officials Buchanan County and St. Joseph for their desire to at least consider the idea. I was in St. Joe once, about seven years ago, for the wedding of a close friend, and I recall thinking at the time about what a wonderful place it was but that it could use some local government consolidation. This government consolidation idea could be a great example to the rest of Missouri if it goes forward, which the optimist in me hopes it does and the realist in me doubts it will. Lord knows we have way too many counties in Missouri, with 114 (+ 1) we have the 4th most counties of any state. As at least 100 of those counties have small populations by any normal standard, we could certainly use some tax-saving consolidation at the county level.
About the Author
David Stokes
David Stokes is a St. Louis native and a graduate of Saint Louis University High School and Fairfield (Conn.) University. He spent six years as a political aide at the St. Louis County Council before joining the Show-Me Institute in 2007. Stokes was a policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute from 2007 to 2016. From 2016 through 2020 he was Executive Director of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, where he led efforts to oppose harmful floodplain developments done with abusive tax subsidies. Stokes rejoined the Institute in early 2021 as the Director of Municipal Policy. He is a past president of the University City Library Board. He served on the St. Louis County 2010 Council Redistricting Commission and was the 2012 representative to the Electoral College from Missouri’s First Congressional District. He lives in University City with his wife and their three children.
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