Rebel yell.

• Author: Walker, Jesse

Tennesseeans fight back against the conquering cities

Most city officials in America, whatever their political party, share certain fundamental beliefs. They believe they have a right to annex any outlying area with an appealing tax base, then take their time delivering the services those taxes are supposed to pay for. And they believe they have a right to grab any parcel for which they might have a use - to seize a future landfill site, for example, before subjecting it to eminent domain. They rarely have trouble doing any of this, since state laws on annexation are usually written by people with the same beliefs.

But last year in Tennessee, the world turned upside down; the balance of power swung away from city leaders and toward residents of the areas they covet. For a few months, Tennesseans glimpsed the political order under which people actually want to live. It's somewhat different from the one officials have been imposing.

The story began in Fayette County, in the western part of the state. In 1996, the town of Oakland decided to annex a strip of highway that cut straight through the tiny rural community of Hickory Withe, splitting the latter in half. The people of Hickory Withe had no say in the matter: By Tennessee law, cities can take over any area within three miles of their borders (five miles if the city is as big as Chattanooga). All it takes is a vote of the conquering government. Tennessee is one of six states in which the people being annexed need not be consulted. If the annexees don't like it, their only recourse is to move - or fight it out in the courts, a lengthy and sometimes prohibitively expensive process.

But it so happens that Tennessee, s lieutenant governor, John Wilder, comes from Fayette County. He was sympathetic to Hickory Withe's troubles and decided to help. Oakland wouldn't be able to annex any of Hickory Withe if the latter were itself incorporated. But it was too small (under Tennessee law, you need at least 1,500 citizens to incorporate) and too close to Oakland (new towns must be at least three miles from other municipalities). So Wilder sponsored a bill that would have made an exception for his former neighbors.

When it looked like that law would be too narrow to pass constitutional muster, Wilson drafted a new version that made it easier for any community to incorporate.

The new bill reduced the minimum number of citizens needed to start a town from 1,500 to 225. It also got rid of the rules...