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During a hearing last week at the Capitol, Rep. told the House Emerging Issues Committee he had filed the failed 2019 Better Together plan because ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has been underperforming. In the early 1960s, he pointed out, the city and county together boasted nearly 1.5 million people. That number has fallen to about 1.3 million now.

But during a hearing that stretched more than hour, various stakeholders blasted the Clayton Democrat’s approach.

“I don’t think we have that conversation by throwing a grenade into it with something like this Better Together proposal and then saying ‘Oh, now let’s talk,’â€� said Pat Kelly, executive director of the Municipal League of Metro ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

Rep. Elizabeth Fuchs, D-ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, called Mackey’s effort “a little agitating.â€�

“People were like, ‘What’s he doing?’ and ‘Why is Rep. Mackey doing this?’�

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ split from the rest of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County nearly 150 years ago in what’s known as the “Great Divorce.â€� Efforts to reverse that decision have repeatedly fallen short. The most recent attempt, the Better Together plan, would have merged the city, county and all 88 municipalities (now 87 after Glen Echo Park was voted off the map in 2023) into one metropolitan city. There would be one metro mayor and one police department, but school districts would have been left untouched.

That plan was derailed, in part, because it proposed making the county executive, then Steve Stenger, the first mayor of the newly merged metropolitan government. But Stenger was facing legal trouble, and in May 2019, he pleaded guilty to charges related to a pay-to-play corruption scheme. The merger plan was unceremoniously shelved.

Mackey concedes his proposal shares something in common with the 2019 effort.

“Right out of the gate, it’s got at least 1,000 opponents,â€� he said. “That’s the number of elected officials in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County.â€�

Among those opponents were the mayors of Brentwood, Webster Groves and Beverly Hills, who trekked to the capital city to speak against the plan.

Many of the arguments against merger voiced at the hearing echoed those made in 2019: Why should county residents be saddled with the city’s issues?

“They can’t even pick up their trash,â€� commented Byron Keelin, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County resident and president of the conservative group Freedom Principle MO, at the hearing.

Gary Wiegert, a former city police officer and current Republican committeeman for the Chesterfield township in the county, blasted “that city attitude of ‘Defund the Police’ that has been there for the last four years.�

Rep. Brad Christ, a south ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Republican who sponsored the recent state takeover of the city police department, said “many peopleâ€� know the city has problems.

“I don’t want to be a part of those problems,� he said. “I didn’t move there for that reason.�

At the end of the hearing, Arnie A.C. Dienoff, of St. Charles County, testified the city of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ had a history of high debt and infrastructure deficiencies.

Fuchs, who represents the Tower Grove South-based 80th House District, fired back that ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County had “quite a deficitâ€� and that she wanted to “defend the city of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ against all these attacks that I keep hearing.â€�

Earlier, Fuchs said the next governor could make the city-county merger a priority.

“If this became a priority, I imagine that we would have to work really hard to make it the best that it could be for the citizens who currently live in the city of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½,â€� she said.

Christ, chairman of the Emerging Issues Committee, said he didn’t intend to advance Mackey’s merger plan but said he was interested in conversations on government efficiency in line with federal “DOGE� efforts.

“There are some things that we need help with,� said Christ, who sponsored the state takeover of the city police and efforts to weaken the earnings tax. Mackey’s plan would phase out the earnings tax.

Christ questioned what would happen with regard to policing following the state takeover of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ department.

“I don’t know now with the state takeover if that would be a conflict that we would have to resolve,� Mackey said.

Mackey’s initial plan would take the merger to a statewide vote, an aspect of Better Together that was heavily criticized in 2019.

Weigert, of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, called the plan “typical noblesse oblige.â€�

“They are trying to force this on us and people do not want this,� Weigert said. “People want to be able to determine their own fate.�

Kelly, the municipal league director, reminded the committee that the Missouri Constitution includes a Board of Freeholders process that allows nine city appointees, nine county appointees, and one gubernatorial appointee to convene for wide-ranging discussions on changing the local governance structure.

He said whatever the board decided would need to be approved by voters in the city and county.

Brentwood Mayor David Dimmitt called the loss of the city’s police department a “non-starter,� saying his city takes great pride in its department. He said the city of about 8,000 is in a mutual aid pact with nearby municipalities for police and fire services.

“Because of that we don’t need to have a lot of police officers,� Dimmitt said. “We don’t need somebody to come in and tell us here’s how you’ve got to do it.�

The legislation is Hous