Merging the city and county made both worse. It was done as a gimmick to make the city's population look artificially bigger. Businesses only care about the population of the 13 counties around Louisville. The city-county merger didn't change a thing from their perspective. The Metro council is too weak to serve as a check and balance on the Mayor. They can't even fire a city officer like nearly every other city council in Kentucky can. The only people who run for Mayor, Congress or Governor around