LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A couple of dozen Kanawha County officials and representatives from almost every Kanawha city and town were in this thriving river town Thursday for a crash course in metro government.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper organized the two-day field trip so county and local leaders could see firsthand how metro government works in practice. Residents in Louisville and surrounding Jefferson County voted to merge their resources into one countywide government in 2000, after about 40 years of debate and failed elections.

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Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 - A couple of dozen Kanawha County officials and representatives from almost every Kanawha city and town were in Louisville, Ky., Thursday for a crash course in metro government. (From left) Kanawha County Commissioners Dave Hardy, Hoppy Shores and Kent Carper meet with Louisville metro area Mayor Jerry Abramson and deputy mayors Rick Johnstone and William Summers.

Before the merger, Louisville was a community of 60 square miles with a population of 256,000 people. Afterward, the Louisville metro area comprised 386 square miles with a population of almost 700,000, and Louisville went from the country's 67th-largest city to 16th.

Abramson gave a pep talk to visiting mayors and officials on Thursday. Those in attendance included County Commissioners Dave Hardy, Hoppy Shores and Carper; state senators Brooks McCabe and Dan Foster; mayors or representatives from almost every town in the county; Sheriff Mike Rutherford; public safety officials and representatives from virtually every county office and several Kanawha County economic development experts.

Proponents of metro government say combined governments can pool their resources to provide better services for all residents in the metro area. Those against the idea fear it robs small towns of their autonomy and denies them a voice in the larger community.

Abramson disagrees. "Right in the middle of the word 'community' you have 'unity,' " he said, adding that local towns have more in common than differences.

By banding together, he said, "You're going to grow, or you're going to fail, together."

Abramson said the idea of metro government for Jefferson County went to a vote - and failed - three times before finally passing in 2000. The key to the idea's eventual success was a carefully orchestrated election campaign, support from the local press for the idea and a public information campaign specifically aimed at stilling the fears of opponents.

Under the merged government, Abramson said county voters basically agreed to dissolve the Jefferson County government and create a new government under the umbrella of greater Louisville. The countywide government has an elected mayor and 26 elected council members who represent the different communities and areas of the larger metro area.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A couple of dozen Kanawha County officials and representatives from almost every Kanawha city and town were in this thriving river town Thursday for a crash course in metro government.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper organized the two-day field trip so county and local leaders could see firsthand how metro government works in practice. Residents in Louisville and surrounding Jefferson County voted to merge their resources into one countywide government in 2000, after about 40 years of debate and failed elections.

Jerry Abramson, mayor of the combined city-county government and a 13-year mayor of "old" Louisville before the merger, said the journey wasn't easy. But five years after the merger, Abramson said metro government is working well.

Before the merger, Louisville was a community of 60 square miles with a population of 256,000 people. Afterward, the Louisville metro area comprised 386 square miles with a population of almost 700,000, and Louisville went from the country's 67th-largest city to 16th.

Abramson gave a pep talk to visiting mayors and officials on Thursday. Those in attendance included County Commissioners Dave Hardy, Hoppy Shores and Carper; state senators Brooks McCabe and Dan Foster; mayors or representatives from almost every town in the county; Sheriff Mike Rutherford; public safety officials and representatives from virtually every county office and several Kanawha County economic development experts.

Proponents of metro government say combined governments can pool their resources to provide better services for all residents in the metro area. Those against the idea fear it robs small towns of their autonomy and denies them a voice in the larger community.

Abramson disagrees. "Right in the middle of the word 'community' you have 'unity,' " he said, adding that local towns have more in common than differences.

By banding together, he said, "You're going to grow, or you're going to fail, together."

Abramson said the idea of metro government for Jefferson County went to a vote - and failed - three times before finally passing in 2000. The key to the idea's eventual success was a carefully orchestrated election campaign, support from the local press for the idea and a public information campaign specifically aimed at stilling the fears of opponents.

Under the merged government, Abramson said county voters basically agreed to dissolve the Jefferson County government and create a new government under the umbrella of greater Louisville. The countywide government has an elected mayor and 26 elected council members who represent the different communities and areas of the larger metro area.

However, smaller towns retain their own mayors and city councils under the government, and several of the smaller communities maintain their own police and fire departments. While some have argued that small towns lose their say in the larger government, Abramson suggested the opposite was true.

Under the old form of government - just as in Kanawha County - people in individual towns didn't have input into decisions the county commission made. Now each community has a representative on the countywide governing body.

Several of the Kanawha County mayors who came on the trip said they felt better about the concept of metro government after Thursday's meeting.

"It seems like everything we want to stay in place can stay in place, and the things that need to merge can merge," said Chesapeake Mayor Damron Bradshaw.

"Personally, I do think it's the thing to do," said Clendenin Mayor Bob Ore, though he said it would be difficult to sell the idea of metro government to residents of Clendenin.

"I think we could get a bigger cut of the tax dollars if we could get a metro form of government," he said.

Following a lunchtime meeting with Abramson, local officials broke up into several smaller groups to investigate how metro government works in greater Louisville's various departments. Local leaders are expected to talk with mayors of several of the region's smaller towns today to find out what they think of metro government.

Carper says he wants to put the question to voters "as soon as is practically possible."

Reach Rusty Marks at rustyma...@wvgazette.com

or 348-1254.