2019
With regard to City County Merger, I'm constantly hearing people complain about
the fact that voting on this issue will require a state wide vote and not just
a vote between the City and County voters. I feel that those who say this do
not comprehend the effect of what Better Together is
proposing.
The reason why what Better Together proposes would
require a state-wide vote is because, currently, our Missouri Constitution gives
the right of citizens living in an area to have a say (by voting) in whether
they will annex or be annexed by an adjacent area. I assume that, knowing that
if a merger were left up to a vote between County and City residents, it
would never pass and that Better Together thought that the only way to get
this passed would literally be to change the Missouri Constitution to take
away the right of the people to vote on this issue.
I believe that no matter where you live in Missouri, or, whether or not you believe that merging the City with
the County would be a good thing, it cannot be emphasized enough that a vote for the Revision of Article VI of
the Missouri Constitution as proposed by Better Together is literally a vote to take away your own
Constitutional right to have a say in whether or not where you live can annex, or be annexed, by an adjacent area.
The great orator and attorney, William Webster argued before the
Supreme Court that our Constitution was created in order to protect us from
"those with good intentions". I would also argue that Article VI of the Missouri
Constitution was also created to protect the residents of Missouri from "those
with good intentions". However, I would not argue that Better Together's
intentions are good.
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Wildwood