I’d like to second Mike Foreman’s recent call for the Winchester City Council and Frederick County Board of Supervisors to take action on the unification subcommittee reports submitted to them in April.

The Education Subcommittee learned early on what we were trying to do was unique. Local governments rarely try to unify when both entities are still viable.

Given the recent economic downturn and our area’s changing demographics, I sense this won’t be the case much longer. What we have now is a shrinking window of opportunity where both jurisdictions can do something that’s rarely done — set the template for change before change overwhelms them.

If we look to the east we see the extremely competitive society that is Northern Virginia headed our way. We know what's coming and what’s coming is a society that demands change and high levels of service. The worst thing you can be in a competitive society is non-responsive and uncompetitive. What unification would do, in my opinion, is create a more streamlined, efficient government that can respond to change and opportunity quickly. This provides the opportunity of a better quality of life for all area residents. I can’t guarantee a better quality of life, no one can, but I can guarantee an opportunity of something better for people willing to take advantage of it. That's all any government, any society, can do.

What are the advantages of a more efficient government?

• A more efficient government attracts more and better business that eases the tax burden on real estate owners.
• A more efficient government provides more educational opportunities that produce a better-educated workforce. A better-educated workforce attracts better industry — high-tech, multi-national industry. Such industry provides superior wages and invests in its community.

What unification is about is opportunity, not guarantees. There will be glitches and unforeseen problems. We won’t know what those are until the elected officials start addressing the questions the subcommittees raised. My committee and the others were very careful to provide the questions that had to be asked, and answered, rather than providing definite answers. We thought our duty was to frame the discussion — a friendly, open, public discussion — elected officials would have before the best form of unified government was decided upon. We knew we weren’t elected and did not have the authority to impose our will on elected representatives who have to make the final decision.

After that decision, the chosen form of unified government should go to referendum. Ideally, the discussions between the Board of Supervisors and City Council will settle issues such as debt allocation and school boundaries, so that people will know exactly what they are voting on.

Some things I learned from this process:
A unified government will not be cheaper, in the short run. This is a long-term proposition. We are a growing community and growth means more expense, in the short run. The benefits will come after most of the current office-holders have left office.

There are no “bumper sticker” savings to tout. Unification requires vision on the part of our elected officials — vision that extends past the next election. I don’t envy those who take the long view. They may pay for it in the short run. The only solace I can offer them is that some day they’ll be able to look back and say that they did something that truly affected their community for the better.

There is no “50-50” scenario when it comes to what’s fair for both Winchester and Frederick County. There is no such scenario, that is, if one employs the simple concept of what is fair. This concept says that if you have a pie and eight people get out the ruler, you cut the pie in eighths and give everybody the exact same piece of pie. They get the same piece of pie whether they are fat or thin, hungry or not hungry, whether they like pie or not.

For unification to become a reality we have to take a more mature idea of what is fair. Some aspects of unification will favor Frederick County, some Winchester. In the end, if a more streamlined, efficient government is formed, it will favor everybody. What truly struck me about this process is that we have a lot of good people in this community, people who will work, stand up, and put their name to something that might not be popular — for the good of their community. It may sound corny, but I had a sense of pride, real pride, at the meeting between City Council and the Board of Supervisors in April.

I was proud to live in a community where a potentially controversial topic was discussed with reason, without rancor. I know there are those in our community who have severe misgivings when it comes to unification. But so far this view is being expressed in whispers with no names attached to it. I wish these people would come out and join the debate. All fears, all rumors, all concerns should be addressed. That’s what’s done in a healthy community.

In the end, unification won’t please everyone. The ones who will embrace it are those willing to embrace the enhanced opportunities it offers.

Wayde Byard, a resident of Frederick County, is a member of the city-county Unification Steering Committee.