-bailing out a mediocre airline (run by greedy executives who if graded on the actual performance of the company couldn't likely land a job at Burger King)
-moving a theater 4 (million dollar) blocks
-the potential $15 million or so that will eventually be provided to rehab the theater that was moved 4 blocks
-purchasing a bulletin board for $249 from a "vendor" when they're available for about $4.99 at Michael's Crafts
I'm sure I left something out...
Jill Harmon Cleveland
From: Chris Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Mpls Forum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Mpls] Some possible explanations Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 10:28:58 -0600
Doug Grow's column in the Star Tribune today (Thursday, March 27 -- http://www.startribune.com/stories/465/3784575.html) provides the answers to two questions that may have been floating around in the minds of people on this list and elsewhere:
1. Why do so many people think the government is grossly wasteful of tax dollars and, therefore, we need to have a "no new taxes" governor in place?
2. Will Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin run for Minneapolis mayor, and do we even want him as mayor?
From my point of view, the answers are as below, but I encourage you to read the column yourself and make your own conclusions.
1. Why? Because the government IS grossly wasteful of tax dollars -- but not on social programs, per se, or on police departments, or libraries -- but most often on edifices and perks for the top officials and self-important bureaucrats.
Why do I say that? In 1974, Hennepin county spent half a million on Swiss imported tiles for the plaza at the government center. Hello? What's wrong with Minnesota manufactured pavers? But wait, there's more!
In 1990, they spent another $1.6 million to replace them with pavers from Ohio. But that wasn't good enough either. They're now poised to spend a major portion of a $6 million project to replace them once again.
The court room that Kirby Puckett's trial will take place is "wood-paneled and granite-trimmed." Have you paneled your living room in real wood paneling and trimmed it granite recently? Cheaper than the alternatives, wasn't it?
More than 23 years ago, as a young, apolitical 20-something I spent a number of hours in the offices of some bureaucrat on the upper floors of the Hennepin County Government Center. I say apolitical, because my interest, awareness and knowledge of government and political goings-on at the time was pretty close to zero. I was more interested in my job, my friends, the next beer party, whatever.
Despite that lack of wisdom and interest, I was still flabbergasted beyond all belief at the luxuriousness and opulence of those offices. Compared to private industry, even top executive offices, they were far nicer. The secretary had a nicer office than the director of the entire division of hundreds of professionals at my employer. Even at that point in my life, I was disgusted with the thought that it was my tax dollars that paid for those offices.
Apparently, things have not changed at Hennepin County. Which brings us to question #2.
2. Will Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin run for mayor, and can he be elected?
Beats me if he WILL run, but I am adamantly opposed to him being mayor. For that matter, every commissioner who voted for these 2 repaving the plaza fiascos, including McLaughlin, should be voted out of office at the first opportunity.
This kind of waste is precisely why taxpayers are so outraged that they have voted into office people who will slash urban budgets to pieces, doing great harm.
Chris Johnson Fulton
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