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.
Let me start off by saying I am not defending wasteful spending in government, and that I agree with some of what Chris had to say. But I also think these things need to be put into perspective. According to Chris we will have spent $8.1 million on pavers for the government center. It's a shame they didn't get it right the first time, or the second time for that matter, but who among us is perfect? Who has not done a remodeling project on our own homes only to later regret some of our choices and sometimes even do it over (especially after 30 years)? It happens. People are not perfect. The cost of these pavers to date has been about $2.1 million. They have lasted for nearly 30 years. That works out to about $70,000 per year - which, granted, would have kept some wading pools open. But last I checked the state was trying to cut $89M from Mpls over the next two years.
The perspective I think we all need to have is that, yes, from time to time people in government make bad decisions. We all do. But it is totally unfair when we have a problem like this to make the huge jump to the conclusion that ALL of government is wasteful or that because someone made a mistake about $2.1M we should then over-react by cutting $89M.
As for "wood-paneled and granite-trimmed" court rooms. That doesn't bother me in the least. I have very nice quarter-sawn oak floors and woodwork in my house (though no granite). Again the cost spread out over 100 years is a pittance. I took a tour of the State Capitol last year and was thrilled with the beauty of the place - and proud that it was my State Capitol. The legislature could meet in a pole-barn somewhere. They could still do their work. And what would it save us? Oh,.... maybe $.01 per person over the span of 100 years.
People will always be able to point out what they judge to be wasteful spending, and it's good that we should be on the lookout for it because it adds up. But in the long run all of this needs to be put into perspective. Translating one's rage about minor overspending into a philosophy that all government is wasteful is completely simplistic And translating it into a slash and burn mode is simply brainless and unimaginative and will as Chris says "do great harm."
Paul Lohman Lynnhurst
Paul Lohman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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