In the latter part of 2004, The Winchester City Council and The Frederick County Board of Supervisors appointed a Steering Committee to investigate and study "the more efficient and effective deliveries of local government services to the citizens of Frederick County and the City of Winchester through consolidation of the respective local governments or parts thereof." (From the Mission Statement given to the committee) This action stemmed, in part, from the 20-20 Vision Report completed in the 1990's which recommended a merger or consolidation of certain city and county departments, but which had never been acted upon. The increase and success in joint funding and operation of some city and county government activities along with the tremendous increase in area population with increased demands on both governments undoubtedly led to this new study being undertaken.

Committee members appointed: from Frederick County, Former Board of Supervisor chairmen Kenneth Stiles, Richard Dick and James Longerbeam; current Board Chair Richard Shickle and current Board members Barbara Van Osten and Bill Ewing. From Winchester, the appointees were: Mayor Liz Minor, Council President Charles Gaynor, Council member Mike Butler, former Councilman John Schroth, Dr. Terry Sinclaire and Mr. James Riley. Retired Clerk of the Winchester Circuit Court, Michael Foreman, was appointed as the chairman. After the untimely death of Mr. Stiles, Carolyn Glaize was appointed as a representative from Frederick County.

The Steering Committee decided that 13 subcommittees would be created to undertake the study and the study would be divided into two phases. The subcommittees and the chairs formed for the first phase were: Demographics, chaired by Jay Givens, Public Opinion/Input, chaired by Rhoda Kriz, Legal Issues and Consolidation of Local Government, chaired by Robert Mitchell, Public Schools, chaired by Wayde Byard, Fire and Rescue, chaired by Larry Omps, Social Services, chaired by Donna Dick, Planning and Zoning, chaired by Jim Golladay, and Parks and Recreation, chaired by Kevin Anderson. Committees to be appointed for the second phase will be: Law Enforcement, Water and Sewer, Inspections, The Constitutional Officers including the Voter Registrars, and Data Processing . The Legal Issues, Demographics and Public Input subcommittees will continue throughout the entire study so that additional data and information can be provided to each of the subcommittees.

As soon as citizens were appointed to the various subcommittees for the fist phase, with many citizens volunteering, an organizational meeting was held in May in which the subcommittees were given their charge and also heard an overview of the history of local government consolidation in Virginia and the legal framework in which it can be done by Mr. Ted McCormack, Associate Director of the Commission on Local Government. The committees were given guidelines and they were also asked to develop a plan by which the respective government departments could be consolidated. They were asked not to engage in debate as to whether or not they consolidation should be done but to work only on how it could be done. Each of the first phase subcommittees began their work with enthusiasm and were holding monthly meetings beginning in September.

The Planning and Zoning subcommittee presented their final report to the Steering Committee in November. The final reports for Social Services, Public Schools, Fire and Rescue and Parks and Recreation will be presented to the Steering Committee in January and February, 2006. In March, under the leadership of the Public Information/Input Subcommittee, four public hearings will be held as follows: March 13th- Sherando High School, March 15th, War Memorial Building, March 21, Millbrook High School and march 23, James Wood High School. At each of these a summary of the subcommittee reports will be given and citizens will be allowed to ask questions and to make comments or suggestions. At the same time, "The Committee of 100" will be formed to review the subcommittee reports and to give additional input. It is hoped to have some polling done with the assistance of students in the Advanced Government classes at area high schools

The second phase of the study will begin in April, 2006 with the appointment of the subcommittees to study the areas designated for the second phase. It is expected their work will be done in the summer and fall of 2006, and their final reports to be submitted in December. Additional public hearings will be held, and additional polling done in early 2007.

The Steering Committee will then take each of the final subcommittee reports and prepare a final report to the County Board of Supervisors and the City Council. This should be done by June of 2007. I cannot tell the citizens at this time what the recommendation will be as all subcommittee reports must be submitted and studied in great detail. The report could recommend a consolidation of certain departments, total consolidation of the city and county or for no consolidation. If total consolidation is recommended, a host of additional questions will have to be studied. And if just partial unification of certain departments is decided, funding formulas would have to be created and adopted. Other issues to be decided would include if the new entity would be a city or a county or an urban county such as Arlington County.

The study to date has been thorough and deliberate, but with little publicity. Some citizens have commented this indicates a final decision has been made by the Steering Committee, and I use this forum to advise all citizens this is totally false. The issues are complicated and we have learned much, but we have much more to do and to learn. We are also aware some of these issues are emotional and some may have political implications. We plan on sharing all we do learn and recommend with the public and obtain as much public input along the way as possible. Whatever the Steering Committee recommends, I am confident we will submit a report with the statement that it is the best way to bring "effective and efficient" government service to all citizens in an area that is undergoing tremendous change. The Committee has substituted the word UNIFICATION for Consolidation for we believe sincerely the old maxim, "United we stand, divided we fall," will hold true for the residents of Frederick County and Winchester as they meet the challenges and issues that confront them in the 21st Century.