Mayor Slay Recommends St. Louis City Re-Enter St. Louis County 7:06 PM

On MayorSlay.com, the mayor bluntly stated that the city should rejoin the county, citing inefficiencies involved in regional infighting. In red below is a good portion of his blog post:

Competing against the world for new employers is hindered by the fact that much of our energy is spent competing with each other – municipality against municipality, City versus County.
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If St. Louis is going to stay competitive both nationally and globally, we have to work together as a region, rather competing against each other as fiefdoms. And we have to make more sense to people from outside the region.

How? As an important early step, the City of St. Louis should re-enter St. Louis County and the two should work together to create partnerships in public safety, parks maintenance, sustainability, and economic development.
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The change would be a good, dramatic story. St. Louis County’s population would grow by 360 thousand residents, making it one of the “fastest growing” counties in the country. It would be able to count within its boundaries dozens of vibrant neighborhoods, including most of the historic ones; a sizable percentage of the state’s jobs; the cathedrals of several religions; the venues for three major professional sports; the stage of a major symphony orchestra; double or triple the number art galleries it now has; a menu of great restaurants; almost a hundred new parks; several new universities and colleges; and the state’s largest and best equipped police and fire departments.


What do you think: would a symbolic reconciliation of the "Great Divorce of 1876" contribute to a healthier, more cooperative region? Would it ever even happen?

I support the idea, but have one fear. When I read about previous attempts to combine the City and County, it was always mentioned that the entire state of Missouri would have to vote and approve such changes to county boundaries. Does anyone know if this indeed would be the process of getting this done? Other thoughts?

Click here to read the whole post.