I Feel So Consolidated

The desktop publishing in Western Pennsylvania got a big boost today with the unveiling of the Report of the Citizens Advisory Committee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of City-County Government, which outline the need and made the case for greater inter-municipal cooperation.

That, or it was just a big excuse to trot out Pittsburgh historian Stefan Lorant.

Alternatively, it was a chance to add to my giant pile of "Pittsburgh Reports" that I'm currently using as a foot rest.

Probably the most surprising this about this report was that it was available to the general public about 20 seconds before it was finally unveiled. If you happened to be, say, the Mayor of Pittsburgh, however, the report was available to you long enough ahead of time, to give you ample opportunities to change your position on City-County merger.

*ahem*

The recommendations of the report were fairly complex, so let me break them down for you in words the average City Councilperson can understand:
(1) The City and County should work together;
(2) The City and County should continue to work together;
(3) The City and County should memorialize working together.

The Mayor has formally come out said that he's willing to support these recommendations, even if it results in the loss of his job. I say that there's really no need to stand on ceremony, and he should probably just resign now.

If you read the report closely, however, you'll see that the report is, for the most part, a pastiche of previous promulgated prose, purloined from prior publishers.

Or, in short: the same old shit on consolidation... only this time in a glossy Adobe Pagemaker format... with as many pictures as text.

But, hey! They *mean* it this time.