Found a report regarding the real truth of the matter relative to why Jax chose consoidation, was it successful, and how it has impacted the City since the 1968 merger of City and County Governments (i.e. Consolidation).
It appears that the City desperately tried to annex more unincorporated areas but to no avail; and in the meantime city wide corruption and distrust amongst its politicians and leaders continued to grow worse. Thus, many at the time felt that consolidation was the answer to Jax's problems and the public welcomed and embraced it with open arms. So my question regarding annexation if we had not consolidated has been answered.
Though the City rejected annexation in numerous voting elections, It appears that eventually we would have annexed more areas, thus a City with a population possibly close to Tampa or Miami, and possibly success with annexation without consolidation.
The report also compares Jax's consoldiation effort(s) and consolidation since 1968 with other Cities in America who have consolidated or pondered consolidation without following through, or who completed a so called "functional consolidation."
So read this report and post your views:
Please access:
http://www.wpri.org/Reports/Volume15/Vol15no8.pdf
to read the article. YOU MUST HAVE ADOBE ACROBAT READER IN ORDER TO ACCESS THE ABOVE WEBSITE!
Thanks.
Heights Unknown
I haven't read the report yet, but I was almost a teenager at the time of consolidation. The fact that the then city was about to become majority African-American was a huge factor. Consolidation and the creation of at-large council seats helped the powerful remain powerful.