CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Metro government is dead, Mayor Danny Jones and Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper declared Wednesday, apparently ending efforts to consolidate city and county governments.

"There's just no support for it," Jones told members of the special committee he appointed in April to see whether metro government would make sense for Charleston.

"You're going to send a report to me and I'm going to shut this down," Jones said. "We've got other things to do.

Committee chairman Marc Weintraub invited all three county commissioners and Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, who represents much of rural northern part of the county, to give their views of metro government to the group, which is winding up its work.

"Do I think we should do more on metro government, like Louisville? Yes I do," Carper said. "But I'm a practical man. People are using this as an issue to run against.

"Somebody said it's on the back burner. It's off the stove." Carper said his views matched those of the other commissioners, who did not attend.

Instead of a formal consolidation, Carper said Charleston and Kanawha County should continue to merge departments and processes incrementally. He pointed at the success of the merged 911 dispatch systems and housing authorities.

"I think what we need to do is step back and look at what we have today," he said. "We have a good relationship with Charleston. We have an excellent mutual aid, metro government framework.

"I've been told incremental is bad. Why? Whose got a complaint against the Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority?"

"There's just no support for it," Jones told members of the special committee he appointed in April to see whether metro government would make sense for Charleston.

"You're going to send a report to me and I'm going to shut this down," Jones said. "We've got other things to do.

Committee chairman Marc Weintraub invited all three county commissioners and Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, who represents much of rural northern part of the county, to give their views of metro government to the group, which is winding up its work.

"Do I think we should do more on metro government, like Louisville? Yes I do," Carper said. "But I'm a practical man. People are using this as an issue to run against.

"Somebody said it's on the back burner. It's off the stove." Carper said his views matched those of the other commissioners, who did not attend.

Instead of a formal consolidation, Carper said Charleston and Kanawha County should continue to merge departments and processes incrementally. He pointed at the success of the merged 911 dispatch systems and housing authorities.

"I think what we need to do is step back and look at what we have today," he said. "We have a good relationship with Charleston. We have an excellent mutual aid, metro government framework.

"I've been told incremental is bad. Why? Whose got a complaint against the Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority?"

Earlier, Walters said he's heard plenty of misgivings about metro government at town hall meetings across the county.

People choose to live outside Charleston because they want freedom from city dog rules, no setback requirements and larger lot sizes, he said. They don't like Charleston's gun laws and gay rights.

"Will the user fee be part of the whole county? You don't see a whole lot of support for that. We look at your unfunded liability for paid firemen and policemen. In rural areas, would we be liable?

"So we look at all these things, and we don't have answers."

People outside Charleston are fearful, Jones said. "They don't want us, and frankly I've had it. And what's the purpose of this? Charleston's going to lose its diversity on this, on the [metro government] council."

Weintraub said he didn't see it like that. "I don't hear anyone say metro government is a bad idea. What I hear is people can't wrap their heads around it, and we shouldn't spend more time on it."

The committee will meet one more time, probably next week, to try to reach a consensus on what to do and then write its report to the mayor, Weintraub said.

Reach Jim Balow at ba...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.