EARLVILLE – Since former Governor Eliot Spitzer had the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness created a list of cities, towns and villages that should consider merging or pooling resources, consolidation has been on the minds of many local political leaders, and now one local man wants to see his village address the same issue.

Robert Stevens admits that he may not have all the answers, but he hopes he is able to convince officials in the Village of Earlville to investigate their options for shared services and possibly the dissolution of the village.

At the end of January, Stevens started an Internet forum on the topic of dissolving the Village of Earlville, at http://dissolveearlville.forumco.com. The web site contains information compiled by Stevens that he sees as reasons the village should consider dissolving for the good of its residents.

“I see a lot of things that we pay for as village residents that we also pay for as town residents,” Stevens said. “We’re paying for redundancy.” Stevens explained village residents pay both town and village taxes which cover similar services, such as department of public works employees, village and town justices, clerks and other employees.