Topeka ? Residents of Shawnee County will vote Nov. 2 on what could be the first step toward consolidating the county government with that of the city of Topeka.

On a 3-0 vote Monday, the county commission approved a ballot question asking voters whether they want the state to appoint a commission that could recommend consolidating the governments, or at least some of their functions.

“This isn’t a vote on whether to consolidate,” Commissioner Vic Miller said. “This is asking voters whether they want to bother to put a plan together.”

If such a plan were prepared, there would be a second vote on whether to go ahead with it, Miller said.

The commission chairman, Ted Ensley, said that should an actual consolidation plan come to a vote, he would ask that the state require approval from a majority of voters living both inside and outside the city. The 2000 census showed 169,871 residents in Shawnee County, 122,377 of them living in Topeka.

Last month the Topeka City Council passed a resolution asking the Legislature to pass a law to allow a consolidation of the two governments. Such a law was passed in 1996 to permit consolidation of the governments of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., and that was approved by voters there the following year.

Unsuccessful efforts to consolidate some Topeka and Shawnee County departments have gone on for decades, though the city and county 911 dispatch centers were combined about seven years ago.

At Monday’s commission meeting, some residents of unincorporated areas of the county expressed reservations about consolidating.

“It seems like this is a win-win situation for the city and a no-win situation for the county,” Don Williams said.

Topeka Mayor James McClinton said he approved putting the issue before voters.