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1/14/2009
Why be a responsible municipality?
And what are we teaching our kids with this bailout business?
So asks Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna, who is fit to be tied about this bailout (or stimulus or blackmail or whatever you want to call it) business.
Thirty miles to the north, Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt submitted (per the Press Gazette):
16 projects worth about $35.8 million in October, when the Conference of Mayors surveyed its membership for quick-hit municipal projects.
The list Schmitt submitted was neither a whimsical wish list nor a project priority list but rather was a collection of projects selected to meet the survey's specific criteria for project type and readiness of execution. Submitted projects were to be ready-to-go projects that could be started within 90 days of receipt of funds and be completed by the end of 2010.
According to the Daily Reporter,
The Conference compiled 15,541 projects from 641 communities nationwide. Those projects, which could begin in the next year, total $96 billion.
Be assured, none of those projects came from Appleton. And Hanna has a few words to say about that. For one thing, he says he doesn’t have extra projects sitting on the shelf for someone else to pay for – any projects designed and ready to go are in the $30 million worth of projects included in Appleton’s 2009 budget. “If cities have projects they’ve spent money [designing], but haven’t funded, why have they wasted the design dollars?” Hanna says it’s a matter of prioritization, responsibility and fiscal discipline.
Because Appleton’s been disciplined about prioritizing and funding needed capital projects, Hanna wonders why it’s so important now for other communities to get work done, now that it’s someone else’s money they’ll be spending. Hanna believes a community must ask itself, if you had to pay for these projects, even if you had to go to referendum to exceed your levy limits, would you do them?
Appleton thus far is seeing favorable bids for 2009 work; Hanna believes much of that is due to lower demand in the region. If hundreds of billions of dollars are pumped into the economy, Appleton’s mayor is pretty sure the result will be increased costs for Appleton projects – and increased costs for Appleton taxpayers who, it could be argued, have already paid their fair share for a responsible approach to maintaining the city’s infrastructure.
It’s not just Appleton getting the short end of the stick. Hanna points out that communities throughout Wisconsin have voted to tax themselves to build new schools and repair old schools. He explains, “Now I have to support my schools and I must send money to other places in the country because they haven’t kept up?”
Perhaps more of us should be asking, why be a responsible municipality – or school district for that matter? And what are we teaching our kids?
[Update: Michelle Malkin notes that taxpayer groups are planning to protest the Conference of Mayors meeting this weekend in D.C. over the "pork-laden portion of Obama's stimulus package."] Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
The logic all seems sound here. I was recently viewing the historical documentary "The Making Of Milwaukee." In the early days, citizens would
call a "meeting of indignation" when we would call it a "protest." I like the term indignation for this.
What we are seeing is the profligate rewarded and the thrifty punished.
The current phrase for ready to go bail out projects is "shovel ready." I think that is very apt. I'll have my shovel ready when the BS starts. Pork projects are one thing, but here's something to consider: the fear is that these
ready to go projects could well benefit the military industrial complex first foremost and at the front of the line.
Another to consider is the matter of local self reliance. The less federal dollars given the more control accrues to communities. It is important to play to our strengths than add to the weaknesses of bailout begging.
Kagen and Feingold voted against the early bailout schemes. It is important for them to hear from you now.
Lon Ponschock (Wed Jan 14 11:47:05 2009)
Great Lon. Just great.
Jo (Wed Jan 14 15:15:15)
Kudos to Mayor Hanna and the leadership of Appleton for prioritizing and living within the means of their tax base. More communities should be as responsible with their planning and honest with their taxpayers.
From personal observation the hardest thing for a municipality is prioritizing their needs. Why? Because for every item placed high on the list, there are so many other projects that are lower and along with it - disappointed "interested parties". It takes honesty and courage to make those decisions and for their honesty and courage the leadership of the City of Appleton should be commended.
Jeff Riedl (Wed Jan 14 19:00:02 2009)
So, now the citizens of Appleton are going to have to pay for a bailout package through higher federal taxes, but because of thier mayor, they won't benefit from it. Im torn between feeling bad for Appletonians and being happy that there's more for the rest of us. Thanks Mayor Hanna!
Bob (Thu Jan 15 18:31:05 2009)
I'm glad that we as a city do not have projects sitting on the shelf waiting for funding. Howerver, there are future project that we as a city need to start planning for. We cannot delay planning (and the costs associated with that planning) because they "are too costly". If the cost of planning the future of our city is too high now, I ask this question, when in the future will those costs go DOWN? As a cndidate for District 1 Alderman, I will make sure that we spend wisely and plan carefully. Michael Potter
michael potter (Sun Jan 25 22:04:04 2009)
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