Essex Mayor Ron McDermott thinks de-amalgamation is a dead issue in his town.
McDermott speaking to BlackburnNews.com after a report from the Fraser Institute this week looked at de-amalgamation as a potential money saver for municipalities.
"It was hell in the early years and we pretty well got all of those bad feelings put to bed and to resurrect them again, not what I'm looking forward to in my next three years [as mayor]," says McDermott.
The former towns of Essex and Harrow as well as Colchester North and Colchester South amalgamated to form the current Town of Essex in 1999.
"Surely, no one on council will ever bring it up. I can't guarantee that, but they tried this process ten or 12 years ago and it couldn't go any place," says McDermott. "What are you going to do with all the employees? I can't see it happening and I'm sure as hell not going to push to investigate this. We are what we are whether we like it or not. We've come a long way."
The Fraser Institute report is a follow up to its earlier report, which included Essex as a case study, arguing the amalgamation process didn't save taxpayers the money expected.