SHENANGO VALLEY Results show disapproval for communities to merge

The plan was apparently rejected in Hermitage and Sharpsville.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Voters in five Shenango Valley municipalities turned down a campaign to consolidate, but the man who spearheaded the effort said things won't stop here.
Gregg Buchanan of Hermitage argued that creating one big city out of Sharon, Hermitage, Sharpsville, Farrell and Wheatland would result in a better life for everyone.
He was the driving force in getting a consolidation question on Tuesday's election ballot.
"I think there will be some good things to come from this," Buchanan predicted, pointing out that municipal leaders now know they need to look at being more cooperative with one another.
He said his group brought people together to discuss things and that should provide an impetus to look closer at shared municipal services as a way of controlling taxes.
Buchanan said there is still some interest in putting together a formal plan for consolidation, so the issue could come up again. That may depend on what current municipal leaders are doing to find ways to cut municipal costs through shared services, he said.
There was support in all five communities, he said, although voters in Sharpsville and Hermitage apparently rejected the consolidation idea.
It was an all-or-nothing deal. The majority of voters in each municipality had to approve it or the issue died.
Results
The Mercer County Election Office, beset by voting machine problems all day, was unable to report how any of the five individual municipalities voted on the referendum before the office closed for the day.
However, parties involved in the battle over the issue reported the measure passed in Sharon but failed in both Hermitage and Sharpsville. They had no results for Farrell or Wheatland.
The county reported only the total vote on the issue, showing it went down by an overall margin of about 2 to 1.
The approval in Sharon may have been fueled by the possibility of substantial property tax cuts should the new municipality enact a tax system based on a higher wage tax and lower property taxes than now exist in Sharon, a scenario Buchanan's group, Citizens for the Valley, promoted.
Buchanan said he was "more disappointed than surprised" by the vote, but said it shows there are some people interested in improving the Valley.
The debate over the issue became quite fierce at times, but people now understand what their taxes are and what can be done to stem rising taxes, he said.
Opposition
Bob Miller, also of Hermitage, was instrumental in forming a group opposed to consolidation.
"We're thrilled," he said, as voting results became known.
Hermitage Citizens Against Consolidation never had any counterparts spring up in the other four municipalities but attracted supporters from them all.
"The people have spoken. They've learned what the truth is," Miller said, after learning that Hermitage and Sharpsville had rejected the consolidation plan.
He said that Buchanan's group got the issue on the ballot but couldn't put together a campaign to sell it to the voters. They weren't telling people the truth and had no actual plan showing how the consolidation would work, Miller said.
Sharon Mayor David O. Ryan expressed surprise that the issue passed in his city. He had expected a close vote but neither he nor other elected officials in Sharon took a public stand on the referendum question, preferring to let voters make their own decision.