CLEVELAND, Ohio – If Cleveland and Cuyahoga County had merged decades ago into one unified government – as did the city of Indianapolis and surrounding Marion County in 1970 – what might the region look like today?

By greatly increasing its population, Cleveland might have become eligible for the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid that the consolidated government in Indianapolis used to rebuild its economy and revitalize its downtown.

Would a unified government here have closed Burke Lakefront Airport? Would it have long ago replaced our outdated Justice Center? Would it have ensured that RTA could reliably connect workers with employment centers?

In this installment of Cleveland 2030, A Way Forward, cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer pose “what if” questions to some of the region’s leaders from the past as well as some of the people participating in current discussions about how to make Greater Cleveland a better place.

Cleveland 2030 is part of Cleveland Connects, a series of civic dialogues sponsored by PNC Bank since 2012.

Joseph D. Roman leads the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

Joe Roman, president and chief executive officer, Greater Cleveland Partnership

The Greater Cleveland Partnership has begun having conversations with various community groups to determine how changes in government structure, from collaboration to merger, could improve the local economy and quality of life.

Roman was reluctant to identify areas where a unified government might have made a difference, so we asked him specifically how a merger of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County might have affected the quality of air service.

“The only thing we would know for sure is the airports currently operating in the county would be owned by one entity,” he said. Cleveland owns Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which handles most of the commercial aviation in the region, as well as Burke Lakefront Airport near downtown. The county owns the airport in Richmond Heights.

But Roman said he can hardly give a talk these days without somebody suggesting another use for the shoreline occupied by Burke Lakefront Airport, such as an 18-hole golf course.

With all the airports under one ownership, he said, “those options could be studied.”

Roman cited the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer Authority and the Cleveland Metroparks as examples of regional cooperation that occurred years ago and have led to positive results.

John J. Russo, administrative and presiding judge, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.

John J. Russo, administrative and presiding judge, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

Russo said something as simple as better coordination of street lights could have been achieved through consolidation because roads would not traverse multiple municipalities.

Closer to his expertise is the need for a new County Justice Center to replace the one that opened in 1974 in downtown Cleveland. The county has its Common Pleas courts in the Justice Center as well as the Sheriff’s Department and the main jail. Cleveland’s Municipal Court also is in the building.

Russo said discussions on what to build, and where, have been complicated by the fact that the county and city have yet to discuss how a the project will be financed.

“If Cleveland is going to be 20 percent of the building then they should be 20 percent of the bill,” Russo said by way of example.

Also left unresolved, he said, is where will the money come from? “Are we going to look at bonds? Are we going to look at passing a levy?

Russo said these are questions that the city and county need to be discussing now rather than wait several months for a consultant makes recommendations .

Randall McShepard is vice president for public affairs and chief talent officer for RPM International Inc. (File, 2015)

Randy McShepard, vice president for public affairs and chief talent officer, RPM International

McShepard, who is co-chair of the PolicyBridge think tank, recently wrote an essay calling for the region to help with the development of a new generation of African-American leaders.

In an interview with cleveland.com, McShepard said Cleveland might never have elected an African American as mayor of a unified government because the merger of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County would have diluted the black vote.

But McShepard envisioned some positive outcomes had the region consolidated decades ago, including the creation of a public transportation system that makes it easier for workers to get from their homes to their jobs.

While the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority provides the means to get around, riders often must take multiple buses to get somewhere, he said. Had a single government been making land-use decisions over the past few decades, job sites and transportation routes probably would have been better coordinated.

A unified government might also have done a better job of recruiting companies and growing the regional economy, areas where the city and county aren’t always in sync.

“It’s probably safe to say that some of the decisions around business attraction could have been played out in a more favorable way for the region,” McShepard said.

Cuyahoga county Commissioner Tim Hagan in 2010.The Plain Dealer

Tim Hagan, former Cuyahoga County commissioner

Hagan, who was a commissioner from 1982 to 1998 and again from 2005 to 2011, said a unified government would have allowed the region to better determine its own destiny.

“You would have had more political power and more influence at the state level for legislation you might need,” said Hagan, a liberal Democrat.

One voice for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County also would have resulted in more coordinated development, Hagan said, and more clout when it came to negotiating with corporate citizens, such as the Cleveland Clinic, seeking tax breaks.

Jane Campbell was Cleveland's first woman mayor, serving from 2002-2005. (Plain Dealer file photo from 2005)The Plain Dealer

Jane Campbell, former Cuyahoga County commissioner and Cleveland mayor

Campbell, who was a county commissioner from 1997 to 2001 and then mayor of Cleveland for four years, doesn’t think a merged government would have mattered much when it came to completing large downtown projects, such as the three major sports arenas built in the 1990s.

“The question about consolidation of government is less about how we get a big project done, because I think Cleveland has demonstrated its ability to get big projects done,” Campbell said.

Where Campbell believes a merger decades ago could have made a difference, assuming it had the blessing of the African-American community, is if it meant consolidating schools and police, thereby improving the overall quality of each.

Cleveland has the most sophisticated police force and firefighting units in the county, Campbell said, while the suburbs have the stronger schools. But selling the suburbs on a merged school system would have been tough, she said.

School consolidation was not a part of Indianapolis’ Unigov and the 11 school districts in Indianapolis-Marion County are still not unified. Other government services such as police and fire districts have merged since 1970.

Tim McCormack in 2010 (Allison Carey/The Plain Dealer) ALLISON CAREY THE PLAIN DEALER Tim McCormack, independent candidate to be the initial Cuyahoga County executive. The Plain DealerThe Plain Dealer

Timothy McCormack, former Cuyahoga County commissioner

McCormack believes a city-county government could have been helpful as a way to better address the poverty that now stretches from inner-city Cleveland to some of the far reaches of the county.

A combined government might have gotten more help from state leaders in Columbus because it would have signaled “that we’re able to cooperate,” he said.

That inability to cooperate has largely been a function of a suburbs-versus-the-city mentality, McCormack said, although he believes that sentiment has softened along with the mistrust.

“Republican leaders are just as much interested in the well-being of the community as progressive Democrats,” he said.

Kevin Kelley (Marvin Fong / The Plain Dealer) The Plain Dealer

Kevin Kelley, president, Cleveland City Council

It’s always a battle to find money to improve infrastructure, Kelley said, but a consolidated Cleveland and Cuyahoga County might have made that task considerably easier.

The increased tax base would have pleased the capital markets and made it easier and cheaper to borrow money by selling municipal bonds, he said.

“More capital projects maybe could have happened,” Kelley said, including improvements to local roads, which are damaged each winter from the nasty Cleveland weather.