Many thanks to local officials for voicing concerns and resistance to Del. Johnny Joannou’s proposal to study a merger of Suffolk, Norfolk and Portsmouth.

On Wednesday, the Portsmouth Democrat amended his bill by dropping Suffolk, as it should be. Mostly rural Suffolk is not a good fit for its urbanized neighbors. Our position has always been that any such move could only mean higher taxes for Suffolk, more congestion and less local control. Any supposed benefits for Suffolk are far outweighed by the negatives and let’s hope Wednesday’s move ends the merger talk where our community is concerned.