Call it a hunch, Ed. 

It occurs to me that Bertino and Bunting have not endeared themselves to their fellow commisioners thus far. And  Bright's letter which clearly absolves them of any of the charges he levels against the others will negate for the foreseeable future any chances they have of being invited for tea and crumpets at the homes of Fiori , Elder et al.

And these two are supposed to be our champions in the lists, Good luck with that. 

They have rendered themselves persona non grata with the very people who they needed to treat with mutual respect in order to engender some cooperation.

In this regard they have failed miserably and it is OPA which will bear the consequences.

As for consolidation, it will come because Fiori wants it and he has the votes. It is not on its face an unreasonable proposition and has its merits, I suppose.

The current hodgepodge of 11 districts just seems to have "growed" with no rhyme or reason and is kind of a mess.

As for the bluff. 

Done at the behest of the OPA who want to be seen as proactive when it is really reactive. It is nothing more than posturing.