28
It was apparent that drawing a single jurisdictional line around the county would not
change the size of Louisville’s metropolitan population. Merged or unmerged metro Louisville
would stay the same, yet city size remained the centerpiece of the campaign. When presented
with uncertain data between economic development and consolidation, UNITY tried
(unsuccessfully) to prove otherwise. When shown that the fastest growing areas in the state were
in fragmented Northern Kentucky, UNITY insisted that Indianapolis or Nashville were the true
models.
12
When shown that conditions in Indianapolis and Nashville were different––that
among other things these cities were state capitals where employment had grown by 63 percent
over comparable cities––UNITY pointed to the ability of those cities to retain existing
population. When shown that Indianapolis and Nashville were not really retaining population
and settlement had spread beyond consolidation lines, UNITY pointed to the “intangible
benefits” of merger (Courier Journal, September 14, 1999; Courier Journal, November 5, 2000).
Notwithstanding the argument for “intangible benefits”, advocates went to surprising lengths to
establish that consolidation would turn up something solid. A former deputy mayor, who had
moved on to work for GLI, clamed the city had lost its bid to attract the Houston Rockets
basketball team because Louisville was split between city and county leadership (Summers,
October 8, 2000 p. D1). Further examination revealed that Houston had simply offered the
Rockets a better deal (Houston Chronicle, July 1, 2000 p. A 33). .
Beyond the rhetoric there was something to be gained through realignment. Putting the
area’s numerous agencies under a single person would vastly increase the mayor’s powers over
budget and personnel. Economic development was already contracted out to GLI, but merger
would greatly increase its scope of operation. Development could more easily be undertaken
anywhere in the county and without securing the approval of three county commissioners. While
Convention