TOWN MEETING Consolidation finds few takers

The borough mayor predicted residents won't back the consolidation effort.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
WHEATLAND, Pa. -- Getting Wheatland residents to vote for consolidation with the neighboring municipalities of Farrell, Sharon, Hermitage and Sharpsville looks like a hard sell.
A town meeting hosted by the borough to discuss the issue drew about a dozen people, five of them from Wheatland.
Two are elected officials, Council President Lorraine Jones and Mayor Thomas Stanton, and both of them oppose consolidation.
Other audience members were from Hermitage, Farrell and Sharon.
Citizens for the Valley, an ad hoc group of Shenango Valley residents who got the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot, gave a presentation of why consolidation is a good idea. Although they were invited, there was no one present from the Hermitage Citizens Against Consolidation, an ad hoc group that opposes the concept.
Stanton said he's not trying to influence anyone's vote, preferring that people make up their own minds. However, he also predicted the consolidation effort will never get sufficient Wheatland support.
Wheatland's gone through consolidation before with its schools and didn't like the results, he said, noting that Wheatland and Farrell joined their school systems decades ago, and Wheatland, a community of only 733 people, hasn't been able to get a school director elected from the borough for many years.
Here's the concern
People here don't have a lot of faith in the promises of consolidation, he said, predicting that, should the consolidation be approved, Wheatland won't get any representation on the new government's council.
If one Wheatland resident raises a concern, it is heard by borough officials, Jones said, adding that citizen won't get the same attention in a municipality of 44,000.
She also questioned the suggestion that becoming a single large community will make things better.
Changing the name won't change anything, she said, suggesting that it is more important to refocus industrial development in a direction that will create job growth, such as the health care field.
The Citizens for the Valley presentation said that the new government would be financed through an increase in wage taxes for most residents, but there would also be a reduction in property taxes.
For elderly residents and others on fixed incomes, that will result in a major economic savings because they have little earned income, said Gregg Buchanan, founder of the Citizens for the Valley movement.
Tax matter
David Jones, husband of the council president, said he would rather continue paying current real estate taxes than pay a higher wage tax, indicating that the tax plan outlined by Citizens for the Valley might increase his tax bottom line.
Consolidation is looking toward the future, seeking to make things better for our children and grandchildren, said Pat Woodings, a Citizens for the Valley member. The Shenango Valley municipalities are declining and won't improve by maintaining the status quo, but consolidation gives everyone a chance to improve, she said.
A consolidation will bring about a major cut in local government costs by reducing five governments to one, according to Citizens for the Valley.
The group also predicts it will stem rising taxes, improve property values, make the area eligible for more state and federal funds and make the area more attractive to businesses looking for a place to locate.
gwin@vindy.com