Elections, Government
Is Cedar Rapids on the right track?
Posted on Nov 02, 2009 by Rick Smith.
Greg Eyerly, the Cedar Rapids flood-recovery director, jumped into the Ellis Park Pool last Wednesday to celebrate the completion of renovations at the flood-damaged city facility.
The splash on a cold day tells a piece of the story voters must sort out as they prepare to go to the polls in Tuesday’s city election.
Mayoral candidate Brian Fagan, an at-large City Council member who was the city’s central face for flood recovery in the first months after the June 2008 flood, has campaigned to tell voters that he and his council colleagues have worked hard and effectively and that the progress on flood recovery is taking place and is now poised to accelerate.
However, Fagan’s principle challenger, Ron Corbett, remembers when the City Council in January was pushing to get the Ellis Park Pool open by July 13 in hopes of providing the neighborhood a psychological lift. By April, when it was clear the pool would not open in the summer, Corbett was standing in front of it, citing the pool as an example of what he calls a “culture of delay” that he, if elected, wants to replace with a “culture of action.”
And so it goes, with the Tuesday election set to select who will be the city’s second mayor in the still-new council-manager form of government.
Fagan has dismissed Corbett’s talk of delay, saying that council, while not handling flood recovery perfectly, was smart to use experienced consultants to methodically document the city’s flood damage. Fagan says the city will take in $75 million more from the federal government for its many flood-damaged buildings and facilities than if the city had rushed the job without expert advice.
Corbett says he’s seen no substantiation for the numbers, and in any event, he says the city’s Eyerly has done as much as outside consultants to save the city money.
Fagan says the city is on the right track, while Corbett says the city is on the wrong track and he can get it back where it needs to be.
Perennial council candidate P.T. Larson, 52, is also in the mayoral race, contending the central issue is the “culture of decay,” with the city needing to fix streets and do more about crime.
Tuesday’s election also features races for two at-large council seats — none of the five candidates is an incumbent — and for seats in east-side District 1 and in District 3, which has precincts in southeast and southwest Cedar Rapids.
Some of the discussion during the various campaigns has focused on whether the city’s still-new form of government is working correctly. Corbett charges the city manager has too much power. Fagan says the City Council is leading the city.
Corbett has said, if elected, he wants to conduct a 90-day assessment of City Manager Jim Prosser’s performance, while Fagan notes that Prosser was named the state’s top city manager a year ago. In any event, the mayor is only one of nine votes on the council.
A Gazette Communications scientific poll last week found 55 percent of the respondents had high or some confidence in the City Council, up from the 47 percent favorable rating recorded in a February poll, but down from the 66 percent favorable rating recorded in November 2007 before the flood.
David Redlawsk, professor of political science at Rutgers University and until recently a professor at the University of Iowa, says it is “relatively rare” that city managers become campaign issues in municipal elections. But Redlawsk, who helped advise Cedar Rapids’ Charter Commission in 2004-05, says it might not be so surprising that it’s happened in Cedar Rapids because the form of government is new and because it has been challenged by recovery from a major flood.
Vote Fagan
Nah, don't see any reason to.
I'd rather vote for P. T.
Apathy is what Corbett is counting on. Corporation Corbett will put the screws to any segment that is not pushing for Corporate tax give a ways, business view over human needs. Do not believe for a minute Corporation Corbett is going to lower property tax’s. Corporate incentives that the public will pay for is a guaranty. I did not see Corbett in the streets after the flood. Did he meet with Republican strategists leading up to the flood or was he sand bagging and helping the people of this city. Corbett is owned by CRST with intentions to become gov.
Corporation Corbett is a believer in the trickle down economics, good luck flood Victims.
Oh come on now. If we elect Fagan, he'll hire a consultant to help him be the mayor.
Owen have you ever built or run any type of organisation? I can tell you have not. Tell me which consultant you would not have needed and why you would have done a better job? I think you just are a guy in the back of the room complaining no matter what is done.
Apathy can only help Fagan. Apathy will allow those who fail to be informed to just vote the same guy back in. Apathy will cause citizens to believe there is no need for change, the status quo is just fine for them. Apathy will allow friends and relatives of Fagan to ignore the direction this city has gone and vote for him. Apathy does not help Corbett.
Good luck flood victims? They haven't been very lucky so far, still waiting to put their lives back together, waiting on city decisions, waiting on Fagan to make sure he's managed to get all the "money off the table" (those are his words from the debate) before he goes forward with assisting individual flood victims. If you have a group of doctors surrounding a heart attack patient and they begin to discuss all the future opportunities they may be giving up by doing what they can now, you let the patient die. Fagan thought it was okay to let the patient die.
Whoever gets in needs to have his feet held to the fire until we see some real improvement for everybody concerned. It is time we have a mayor candidate who runs on his own accomplishments and not half done promises, and that goes for the future as well. I have little faith any of these running have the ability to show improvement over the short or long haul beyond what has already been set in place to be completed. When the money runs dry, this town is going to be in for a real crisis, start watching fees increase all over the place as a sign of what is to come when money that should have been used for the greater good was wasted by way of poorly managed departments and no over sight by the manager or the council.
I agree, and I'm fairly confident that you'll be able to take up issues with Corbett and get responses. Fagan is too superior and distant to care what the individuals of this city think. If Corbett gets in and progress is not made, I'll be standing right beside you looking for answers.
The jury is still out on the new form of government but without a doubt we have the WRONG people in place for it.
Unfortunately Kay Halloran will go down as the worst mayor in Cedar Rapids history (and boy do I regret my vote for her). She provided NO leadership whatsoever during or after the city's worst crisis. She picked Jim Prosser for city manager, a former consultant who seems more interested in padding his resume with a new city hall and raising taxes than working on economic development issues (jobs.)
Hopefully Ron Corbett can start turning things around. We could not do worse than the current crew.
Lee Clancy loses her title?
VOTE CORBETT !!! Then you WILL see change !!!
The City Council needs to realize their job is not to say yea, or nay to what bureau chiefs and the City Manager want. What needs done and what the priorities are as to when it is done is their job. That is not the end of their job.
Oversight like any board of directors is the Council's duty. If their executives are not performing within reasonable expectations, fire them.
The City Coucil is not a PTA. There has been too much, "Oh wouldn't it be nice if…." There is more to the job than fund drives for new playground equipment downtown.
Cedar Rapids has been run like a PTA. New leadership needs to change that direction.
Very good.
https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/PublicView/?d=count...
Check this out. It is not complete. Our State Legislators hate funding this operation. Go figure.
Raise questions about the PTA path and see what happens. See who will raise their wallet to see you go away.
VOTE CORBETT
It just seems we have a 'managehead' and a 'corporatehead'. Hard to get up for any of this.
If you want to help a community recover economically don't ask your lawyer for help. Ask your corporate leader. You may personally dislike corporations, but economics relies on money in motion. If we don't have corporations, we don't have jobs, we don't have paychecks, we can't pay bills. Hate them all you like, but at least be reasonable enough to recognize your reliance on them.
Question for fellow Corbett voters. Who are you voting for at Large? Which two candidates will work best with Corbett to effect change?
When you have a good leader, it is not necessary to custome pick those that will be willing to work with them. Ron will be able to bring the city council together on shared expectations which will allow them to all work together on the hard decisions. Also, a strong leader sets the tone, and if the tone is cooperation and completion, those who try to distance themselves from the group will be seen as self centered individuals without the interest of the citizens at heart.
I will vote for Corbett simply because I don't believe anyone on the current council should be kept in place. As the poster earlier said, it can't be any worse than what we have now and at least we start to get some new blood in our city government.
I believe no one from the current council should be in office anymore, should be new blood because the current form of government seems to cut jobs and hire consultants. Should use that money to fix streets or put some jobs out there or work on the infrastructure. If you have to hire consultants every time to figure out how to run a city, you have no business being in that position or even try to give advice.