Comments on: Cedar Rapids mayoral candidates debate city manager’s merits

By: jamesman

jamesman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:52:39 +0000

Where has Prosser saved money???? Have you looked at your tax bills from Cedar Rapids with the massive drops in the services of Cedar Rapids? Have you even been looking around and seeing what has been happening?

Well Guess not otherwise you would be spewing this

By: 23streets

23streets — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:26:36 +0000

Now Now I think citizens have the right to say what they are experiencing. I agree the cards delte have been more than he was excpecting. The flood was the 2nd most sever natural catastrophe. 2nd to Katrina. Then the city councile is part time! After todays election it can be a opportunite to start fresh. I am not for or against Prosser and I would not want his job. Plus the people who have been flood victems have major problems and need to vent. Both canadates for Mayor say they can do a better job and have possitive results. I think we need full time councile and Mayor.

By: dpiddy8283

dpiddy8283 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:34:51 +0000

Do any of you have any understanding of local government. Prosser has been a city manager for well over 30 years, never been fired before and has done a wonderful job in CR. im sure its tough for him to deal with childish political antics he isn't a politician he is a bureaucrat. If he is fired he will gladly take his nice severance package and give ya'll the finger as he moves on to work with people who have a brain.

By: Watcher444

Watcher444 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:36:28 +0000

Fagan said he still thinks Linn County is interested in joining forces with the city. – quote from opening article

The very last thing Cedar Rapidians want is to join forces with Linn County. The investigation done by KGAN over a four month period about the Linn County Attorney letting pedophiles, child pornographers, and dope dealers off the hook and not even filing charges let alone doing prosecutions is just the tip of the iceberg with Linn County.

Not only does the County Attorney's office not file charges on these people the court system allows attorneys to lie in court even with the evidence sitting in front of the judge. The County Attorney's office can't touch DHS workers because a reading of an Iowa Supreme Court ruling says that DHS is THE STATE and therefore it is the County Atttorney's office, although elected to protect you, are the servants of DHS even if that means not prosecuting bad workers or corruption.

Linn County raised property taxes on a lot of people right when the real estate market was tanking even in such depressed and under siege sections of town like the Southeast side.

There is a video of a woman sitting at the County Attorney's office trying to stab her husband. She walks free to this day. That same woman admitted in an affidavit ten years ago to pulling a loaded gun on another husband with their child between them and she still got custody of the child. The husband when he was stupid enough to pull a gun on her got put in Anamosa for 7 years. The same woman is a known bigamist but the statute of limitations has run out but still uses her illegally obtained name to fraudulently receive funds from the state. She has defrauded the state twice on welfare and never been prosecuted for it and most of the money has never been recovered. Your tax dollars.

That's just a single family. I am sure there are thousands of such stories.

The last thing you want is Linn County putting its skeletons in your closets. KGAN's investigation was a joke compared to what is really going on in this county.

By: mofoluck

mofoluck — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:35:05 +0000

One things I learned from Advanced Principles of Insurance was Insurance companies want to hurry up and make a settlement that's less than market value – most people disparate for cash will take the quick way out and suffer in the long run – but at this point the insurance company doesn't care. FEMA is this cities insurance company in times of disaster – so Mr.Brian Fa_gan had it correct: We need to take our time, get it right and get the money that we're rightfully owed to rebuild this City. "One of the things we used to say in the Marines was – Slow is smooth – smooth is fast." Lets be smooth about who we pick to rebuild our city – Mr.Smart (Brian) or Mr.Slick (The other guy)

By: mofoluck

mofoluck — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:27:03 +0000

You're right – it's sad for me to admit it but you're right. I used to listen to what fast ron had to say and then I talked to some friends in New Orleans about how things went for them after the flood. FA_GAN isn't perfect – but he's been right about more things than not – he's used FACTS and LEADERSHIP to get try to get things done and all's the other guy (fast ron) has done is just talk talk talk…that's the real culture of delay.

By: pappybeary

pappybeary — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:07:21 +0000

neither does a donkey walking backwards.

By: BradyDorman

BradyDorman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:51:05 +0000

You are exactly right Bob. Prosser is doing a commendable job, professionally managing our city. Simple thinking usually doesn't solve complex problems.

By: Johnnyg1

Johnnyg1 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:43:03 +0000

If I knew what you were talking about my answer would be no.

By: basketcase

basketcase — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:41:05 +0000

How long do you think individuals – people – human beings – can put their life on hold waiting? What kind of psychological toll do you think is taken each month a person struggling to keep the mortgage company off their back on a property they have 80,000 equity in, but is now valued at 5,000 for the lot, while they are told and told and told to wait while they struggle to pay a mortgage on a worthless pile of wood and rent on a place to live? You can't be proud of capturing federal dollars at the expense of humans.

By: MossyOak

MossyOak — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:33:05 +0000

Does Stamy's mind that you overshare information?

By: PDT

PDT — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:25:29 +0000

WOW!! Those are some statements you never hear around CR. You can't really be serious.

By: Baum

Baum — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:42:58 +0000

I will thank Prosser right after he sees that the elevator in our parkade downtown is fixed. Winter is coming and we have handicapped employees that need access to the skywalk. This has not been repaired since the flood but I hold out little hope as I understand the elevator in the building housing the code enforcers is not fixed either! Code enforcement what a joke!

By: HiawathaBob

HiawathaBob — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:15:54 +0000

Prosser is one of the best things that has happened to city government. When he arrived we had a horrible organization, and budgeting process akin to a cattle swap. The commissioners that everyone seems to want back had run the city into the ground. He picked up the pieces. The taxpayers in Cedar Rapids should send him a card for saving them money, and improving service delivery.

By: WinterTexan

WinterTexan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:50:23 +0000

Prosser NEEDS TO GO and take FA GAN with him. Be sure to vote this tuesday. Prosser also needs to take Kris with him.

By: maxineiship

maxineiship — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:40:15 +0000

Tom52403 I agree with you…Prosser does not care about CR, we are just another notch in his belt before he moves on to another unsupecting city !! I am for sending him on his way to his new destination…wherever that may be, as long as it is not CR !!!

By: jamesman

jamesman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:04:49 +0000

Well Said Tom, and thats the path we are heading down

By: Tom52403

Tom52403 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:49:47 +0000

Jim Prosser has been a disaster for Cedar Rapids. He can take his red-light cameras, utility taxes , no-vote bond issues and army of $300 an hour consultants (who don't ever accomplish anything) somewhere else. He is not compatible with Cedar Rapids or Iowa in general.

It's been obvious for a long time that he wants a new city hall to build his resume for his next bigger and better job somewhere in some other city. We simply don't need it and I don't want to pay higher taxes for the rest of my life so Prosser can add a feather in his cap.

By: Scoty

Scoty — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:20:47 +0000

Corbett is correct that the city manager has been allowed to much leeway and power in the decision making process in Cedar Rapids. A 90 day assessment would be a good starting point. Replacing Prosser with a different city manager might be an even better decision. However, the issue is with the type of government the city is currently governed under. Replacing Prosser with someone new will lead to the same issues. A city manager is unelected. Not being the choice of the people, the decisions they arrive at lack the validation of being from someone elected to office. The council members don't have specific areas to focus on. Thus, certain elements of city governance don't receive the attention they deserve and others get too much attention. For this type of government to work effectively, time needs to be taken to make sure all elements of the city are prioritized and receive appropriate focus. Until that happens, the City Manager will inevitably dominate the decision making process.

By: tle1952

tle1952 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:30:31 +0000

worked it is a little differnent than living it. when you get your part done, you go home. it is a long and painful recovery, but lets move forward on getting the journey for all affected over with

By: Johnnyg1

Johnnyg1 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:38:12 +0000

Really. Take a look at the Farmstead fire and how our consultant handled that one.

By: torimagic

torimagic — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:56:08 +0000

I believe PT Larson needs to face reality that he is in way over his head. He isn't even on my radar of consideration for a candidate for mayor. It's actually a little pathetic.

By: torimagic

torimagic — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:54:30 +0000

I have to agree with 23streets – I don't believe that there has been a 'culture of delay' as Corbett asserts – look at what happened with Linn Cty – they rushed to rehab the AOB and iJobs rejected their funding request because they didn't take the time to poll public opinion or do valid cost assessments. It set them back almost a year because of that. I don't think Corbett is giving the current council credit. That being said, I don't think Fagan is being realistic about what Prosser has actually done and/or accomplished. The only reason he got City Manager of the Year is because we had a catastrophic flood. I don't believe he or Halloran did the City of CR any favors when they purportedly stayed 'behind the scenes' and let Fagan, as mayor pro tem, and other city employees provide updates. We elected a Mayor and council to be the face of CR and when we are faced with a horrific event like the 2008 floods, we expect to see THEM reassuring us, answering questions and showing LEADERSHIP. With Prosser, it's hard to appreciate any hard work he may have done, when we haven't seen any. He may be a City employee, but as a taxpayer and a citizen of CR, I have an expectation that city employees, especially ones as prominent as the City Manager, perform on a public platform. I expect no less, and neither did the citizens of IC and Coralville whose City Managers WERE on the forefront of press conferences and briefings along with the Mayor. We deserve no less respect. THAT, gentleman, is the key to winning the election. RESPECT your constituents, don't tell us what we need, ask us.

By: 23streets

23streets — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:25:56 +0000

Part 2
Some of the greatest errors is to settle to soon with out the professional claims specialist working on behave of the city. The Ins co. view is to be fair and FAST at a settlement so they can close the claims and know there cost of the storm loss. The CR City with Fagan has done a great job at aspects of maximizing the cites recoverable claims, and the claims will not be closed till the supplements and future new claims that will reveal them self as this recovery goes on. I am sure we will be another 5 yrs and still have open claims. That is the norm in Catastrophe storms. The work at the beginning pays off huge dividend down the road.

By: 23streets

23streets — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:58:00 +0000

By: 23streets

23streets — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:55:06 +0000

Part 1
I have personal experience with Katrina, Rita, Ike, and many other major catastrophes looses caused by nature. I worked as a Ins Property Claims Adjuster. The fact time was taken to recover $75 million more dollars than originally asked to settle for, is a fact that the Recovery from the insurance claims has been handled correctly. The fact that the claims are still open to protect the city from unknown future losses is more important than, a fast settlement. Katrina and the other storms I have worked, still are working claims, and the recovery is long and painful.

By: jamesman

jamesman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:23:17 +0000

Corbett has it right but I would prefer to see them fire him