Quote:
Originally Posted by J_Murphy
Wow...Thirteen different municipalities in this region with just shy of 200,000 people. That seems insane to me, think of all the councils/mayors for this relatively small number of people. Am I wrong in saying this is crazy?
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No, you're absolutely right. It is outrageous. However, if you float the concept of merging any of these towns, the side getting the "city end of the stick" is always up in arms and opposed, whether it makes sense for the greater good or not.
Look at people in Mount Pearl when you point out that they should be amalgamated. That's one of my personal pet peeves. Work in St. John's, eat in St. John's, party in St. John's, drive in St. John's, but heaven forbid you pay taxes in line with the people of St. John's.
That being said, any time the idea of St. John's taking up responsibility for infrastructure in some of the smaller communities, the city gets up in arms too. As I said, its not about what makes sense, its about how loud the opposition is. The system may be inefficient, but its also the status quo, and no one is willing to step on toes in order to change it.