Regionalism and Unigov in the Toledo area

"Something else no one has discussed-Uni-Gov ..."

It has been mentioned here, although not in recent times. The question is, would it benefit the entire county or just Toledo?

Here's one of my many thoughts on the subject. This one from 2007:

I believe that Toledo-based public officials view unigov or regionalism as how can other communities serve Toledo, instead of how all communities together can help the region.

I think the outlying communities distrust Toledo. I have attended public meetings in surrounding communities, and the distrust is evident at times.

When a business moves from Toledo to an outlying community, instead viewing the move as a continual benefit to the area or region, Toledo officials get irate.

But when a business moves from an outlying community into Toledo, then Toledo officials proclaim it as a great boon for the area.

From my casual observations over the past 10 years, I think the outlying communities are correct in distrusting the words and actions of Toledo officials.

Unigov and regionalism have different meanings. Over the years, local officials and the Blade editorial board have discussed and promoted one or both ideas.

Sometimes, people incorrectly use "unigov" and "regionalism" to mean the same thing. I subscribe to these definitions that are listed in a 2005 Toledo Talk post and then included in this post:

Lake Erie West --> Regionalism vs Unigov

There is confusion about what constitutes regionalism as opposed to unigov. Unigov is easier to define: It is a combination of City/County Govt. It has been successful in places like Indianapolis, which is located in the center of Indiana.

Regionalism, in most cases, involves more than one county. Silicon Valley is a region. New England is a region. The Research Triangle is a region, consisting of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. In Ohio, Cincinnati has been a successful region that includes parts of Kentucky and southeast Indiana. Globally it identifies itself as Cincinnati,USA.

Thinking beyond unigov toward regionalism, an obstacle that exists is the invisible wall known as the state border. Trying to get municipal governments to cooperate is one thing, but now involve state governments.

A few related TT posts:

• November 2003 - Regionalism Smegionalism... What's REALLY going on?
• Feburary 2004 - The Blade wants uni-gov
• March 2004 - First 'unigov' summit held
• April 2005 - Support for regionalism
• July 2005 - Regionalism Rules
• July 2005 - Economic development ideas
• May 2006 - Regional development conferences
• August 2007 - 21st Century Government Committee proposal
• July 2007 - Hildo looks to unigov to solve Toledo's problems
• December 2007 - Meta-Plan workshop spotlights regionalism
• January 2008 - Toledo won't contribute to LCIC
• February 2008 - Think regionally, not provincially, about economic issues
• March 2008 - Rise of the super-mayor
• March 2008 - Lake Erie West 2008 Report Card --> Regionalism

That's enough. More threads can be found by scanning search results here and here.

The lengthy and outdated [[Lake Erie West]] post also contains related links to TT threads.

The Lake Erie West regionalism idea is at least 20-years-old.