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GETTING WHAT WE VOTED FOR, GOOD AND HARD

March 11, 2005

Last year a referendum to dissolve the current Des Moines government and merge it with Polk County was soundly defeated. Now we get this:

Des Moines City Council members rejected saving $500,000 on a water detention basin project, turning away all bids because the lowest was too low.

The savings would have been large enough to nearly pay for last year's decision to restore power to 4,200 streetlights that had been turned off in a cost-saving move.

Why? Here's a hint.

"I respect the council members because I know they have a tough job, but this was" wrong, said Thelma Saxton, whose family owns Saxton Inc., which employs non-union labor.

Maybe the county would have been just as absurd. Are we doomed to mismanagement until Iowa consolidates its counties and Des Moines is subsumed in a new Polkdallasmadisonwarren County, diluting the silliness to a manageble proportion? Of course, Dallas-Madison-Warren might not want to join us after seeing stuff like this.

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