Daytumbia? Colayton?

Last time we checked, the city of Dayton contained about 2,700 souls. They make up a large portion of the total population of Columbia County, which stands at around 4,200.

The city and county each has its own legislative body, and each oversees important services for its constituents. Dayton residents get many services from both entities. And some services overlap.

Many years ago, Dayton had its own police department. After much discussion and negotiation, some of it very con- tentious, the police department was disbanded and the city contracted with the County Sheriff's Office for law enforce- ment services. It was agreed then that this was a more cost- effective arrangement than having two separate law enforce- ment agencies serving fewer than 5,000 people.

Another area where services have been duplicated is plan- ning. The county has always maintained its own planning and building department. The city, however, has maintained its own planning staff at times, while at other times contracted with the county for planning services.

As described in a Page 1 article, the City of Dayton is in discussion with the Columbia County commissioners about combining planning services. This comes only a few months after the city ended an agreement with the county to contract for planning. They have recently hired former County Plan- ner Kim Lyonnais as part-time city planner.

Many issues have come into play in the decisions by the city whether to contract with the county for planning or go it alone. Unfortunately, some of those issues have been based on personality conflicts.

In our discussions with city and county officials we are pleased to note that they are unanimous in their opinions that past conflicts should not come into play when making deci- sions regarding combining planning services going forward. We couldn't agree more.

Further, they all appear to be in agreement that it doesn't make sense for a county of 4,200 people to have two separate planning agencies. We're with 'em on that too. We applaud their efforts to find a way to work together to recombine planning.

But why stop at planning? There are other areas where the city and county have duplicate services - the biggest is road maintenance.

And even where services are now combined - like law enforcement and municipal court, and sometimes planning - ongoing negotiations take place regarding the terms of those arrangements, and sometimes those get contentious.

There is, in fact, another way. The Washington State con- stitution provides a way for counties and cities to consolidate their governments.

Each county in Washington follows one of two possible forms of government. The first is called the "Commission Form", which is the one used by most counties, including Columbia.

An alternative form is called the "Home Rule Charter Form". Six counties in Washington, including King, Pierce and Snohomish, have adopted home rule.

A home rule county has more flexibility in administering services. In most cases, a professional executive is hired by the commissioners to oversee the county's business. The workload of the commissioners is then greatly reduced.

(We got all of this information from a web page called www.mrsc.org /subjects/ governance/ locgov12.aspx.)

The home rule form also allows for consolidated city- county government. (This type of consolidation is not al- lowed under the commission form.)

According to the MRSC website, "Although a few Wash- ington counties have explored this option, no combined city- county governments have yet been formed."

Could Dayton and Columbia County be the first? It's something to think about.