Because of lack of support, there will rightly not be ballot measure on the merger plan in November.

The Consensus team should have addressed the broader issue of how should we effect mergers and shared services that would increase the efficiency of government and reduce costs. It must be a plan that makes sense.

I believe that the most reasonable solution is to merge the City of Syracuse with the contiguous suburbs to create a metro Syracuse with a single government headed by a mayor. The outer villages could be merged with the towns they reside in. The County government would oversee the concerns that are common to both. The concerns of urban and rural areas are often distinct and would be handled by their separate entities. The expanded urban core will share all their services which would result in increased efficiency and better services at lower cost.

Consensus should consider this model and hold hearings to get input as to how such a model would work and could be enabled.

Gloria Sage

Syracuse, New York