I-Jobs: The Essence of Pork

Wednesday the I-Jobs board selected the first applicants to be awarded money from Governor Chet Culvers bonding plan. All of the projects approved are located in the city of Cedar Rapids, a city still recovering from the record breaking and devastating floods that decimated the city last year. For the most part the projects awarded the funds can be considered vital infrastructure needs. Here is the list of projects with the amount awarded along with a short explanation of the projects needs:

Cedar Rapids Public Library; $5 million.

Apparently the Cedar Rapids Library was heavily damaged in last years historic flooding. According to the I-Jobs board the library sustained more than 50% damage during the catastrophe.

Paramount Theater, Cedar Rapids, IA; $5 million.

This historic theater was heavily damaged during the 2008 floods that inundated this city. This money will be used to restore the theater to pre-flood condition while also adding a bar/café to the facility.

Public Works Building, Cedar Rapids, IA; $5 million.

The city of Cedar Rapids Public Works Building is another building that was heavily damaged during the flooding that invaded the city last year. As such the building is in desperate need of rehabilitation.

Steam System Customer Relief, Cedar Rapids, IA; $5 million.

The City of Cedar Rapids operated a steam heating system in the city. The flooding that struck the city undermined and damaged the boiler and delivery system. This funding will be used to help the city’s customers convert to a heat system other than steam.

Linn County Human Services Campus, Cedar Rapids, IA; $10 million.

The flooding last year displaced several non-profit service organizations. These funds will be used to construct a new Human Services Campus in downtown Cedar Rapids with room for 7 to 10 non-profit organizations.

Options Building, Cedar Rapids, IA; $5 million.

A large portion of Linn County’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed during last years floods. This project is proposed to replace two separate buildings damaged during the flooding last year, the Options Building and the Witwer Building. The plan is to replace these two buildings with just one.

National Czeck and Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, IA; $10 million.

This project is rather large in scope with four separate phases. They include the restoration of a historic building, the restoration of two historic homes, construction of an exhibition center and research library, and construction of a permanent exhibit.

Also considered but not awarded funding was a request for $500,000 for the construction of a new fire station in Elkader, IA. It would seem that the city’s current fire station has suffered considerable damage as a result of last years flooding.

Like I stated before, for the most part the funding will be going to rehabilitating infrastructure hit hard by the flooding of the Cedar River. However not all of the funds allocated will be going toward necessary infrastructure needs. For instance, I understand that the Paramount Theater is a city landmark. And I understand that it can and should be a source of community pride. But at the same time I also question the use of public funding to restore the theater to its original state. I wonder if the backers of this drive have attempted to secure private donations to help them rehabilitate the building. The same holds true for the National Czech and Slovak Museum & Library. I have to question if this is an appropriate use of taxpayer money. Should not the first order of business for the I-Jobs board be to ensure that necessary infrastructure is rebuilt? That is clearly not the case here.

I will not pretend that I was supportive of this massive debt funded program. But since it has been approved and there is nothing I can do to prevent this money from being spent, we must ensure that the money goes toward vital infrastructure needs and not unnecessary projects. With their first approval meeting out of the way the board has shown us an indication that they are looking to spend the money on high dollar projects without regard to the necessity of the project.