Better together? A plan for a united St. Louis is revealed [View all]

The nonprofit group Better Together on Monday unveiled its much anticipated plan to ask voters to merge St. Louis city and county, a move that its organizers said was necessary to help the region compete nationally and internationally.

A combined St. Louis would be safer, more prosperous and more fair than the sum of its parts, the group said in a report issued on Monday. And it would save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The group said it will undertake a $25 million campaign to put a St. Louis city-county merger vote on a statewide ballot in November 2020.

For the first time, the public can read the group’s recommendations and blueprint for creating a new “metropolitan city” to be superimposed over existing local governments.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/better-together-a-plan-for-a-united-st-louis-is/article_cf8f6b80-9ac1-595e-8cff-3d5e35f5f60b.html

While the area is in serious need of reform and streamlined government, I find that this plan has two issues to which I object, the first being the statewide involvement in local affairs and the contribution of Rex Sinquefield who seems to believe he knows what is best for everyone and is willing to put lots of his money into making sure his views triumph.