Who’s running for CR Mayor and Council?

Frequently, my office receives requests for information on who has taken out papers to run for Cedar Rapids mayor and city council.  Four to eight years ago, the list of names we maintained in our office might have been a good indicator of who was running.  

Now, people interested in running can obtain all of the forms and information they need on our web site or from the Secretary of State.  We don’t have any visibility into who is downloading forms nor do we want any visibility.  For example, Ron Corbett, the only candidate to officially announce he’s running for mayor, does not appear to have obtained a candidate packet from the CR City Clerk or the Linn County Elections Office. 

City candidates cannot file their nomination papers with their respective city clerks until August 24^th; however, to get on the ballot, they must file no later than September 17^th.  I would hope that candidates are gathering signatures on their petitions now, but that’s a choice they get to make. 

Here are the names of some potential candidates in the City of Cedar Rapids based upon requests for candidate information from the City or the Linn County Elections Office: 

Office	Last Name	First Name	Address	E-mail
*CR Mayor	Allard	Jeff	1439 Wolf DR NW
*CR At-Large	Busch	Calvin	1434 C St SW # 3	calpina@hotmail.com
*CR At-Large	Duffy	Nick	122 12th ST NW
CR D3	McGrane	Jerry
CR Mayor	Olinger	Nick	1620 4th Ave SE	johngsaceys@aol.com
CR Mayor	Schloss	Daniel	1500 Bever Ave SE	daniel_cassandra@q.com
CR D3	Stevens	JD	1107 38TH ST SE	jdsdesigns@hotmail.com

 * Source = CR City Clerk 

Note:  The names of some potential candidates are not included in the preceding list due to their request that their name not be released.  Their request is being honored as specified in the Code of Iowa – Chapter 22 – section 7 – paragraph 18.

I’m a “hoot”

While riding home last night after accomplishing one of the items on my bucket list, i.e., singing karoake on my birthday, I noticed an email from a constituent on my Blackberry. I read it to my wife as she drove. It was a very fitting end to my birthday celebration.   Thank You, JH!

Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:01 PM
To: Miller, Joel
Subject: good job

Mr. Miller,

I want you to know how much I admire you.

I was raised to believe honesty and integrity were the most important attributes to have.  I believe you are one of these rare breeds who honors these qualities as much as I do.

I always look forward to your comments from the minutes published in the Gazette, in fact, I laugh my butt off sometimes … you’re a hoot.

I’m also happy to hear you are what you appear to be from alot of old co-workers in the county.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know people like your manner. We like that you question and ask the questions I would be asking.

Keep up the good work. If you ever run for mayor, I’ll be signing up for your team.

“Don’t let the #$%^&*** get you down”

JH
###

Poll: Should we return to the Administrative Office Building?

Per several requests from my friends on Facebook, I’ve created an online poll to complement the bean poll in my office.  Before you cast your vote, I think you should be aware of the law.

Chapter 331.322(5) of the Code of Iowa indicates the Board of Supervisors shall “furnish offices within the county for the sheriff, and at the county seat (Cedar Rapids) for the recorder, treasurer, auditor, county attorney, county surveyor or engineer, county assessor, and city (Cedar Rapids) assessor.  The board is required to furnish the officers with fuel, lights, and office supplies.”

As Auditor, I suppose I could refuse to stay in an office NOT furnished with fuel, lights, and office supplies.  And I suppose I could refuse to relocate to an unfurnished office.  But other than that, I don’t have much choice.

Years ago, the Board decided that all of the county officers (except the County Attorney) would vacate the Courthouse and relocate to the Administrative Office Building.  I’ve heard that if the Courts had their way, they would take over the space occupied by the County Attorney, but that’s a discussion for another time.

I don’t know why the County Engineer is allowed to have an office outside of Cedar Rapids?  I’m sure there’s an explanation.

In any case, you elected the Board and as elected officials, they – and none of the other elected officials including me – get to decide where our offices will be located. 

If you have an opinion and want to express it by voting in the poll below, please do so.  Adding comments will amplify your opinion.    And if you want to email the Board, address your email to bd_supervisors@linncounty.org 

If you want your email to be available to the public, then state that you are waiving your right to privacy and you want your email filed in the public record.  That doesn’t mean your email WILL be filed in the public record as it’s up to the Board to decide which emails do and don’t get filed.

Westdale Mall assessed at $18M

More precisely, Westdale Mall – the part of the Mall offered to the County for $18.5M on 1 December 2008 - is now assessed at $18,387,392 per a district court decision.

Previously, the Mall had been assessed at $24,204,820. 

The new assessment values are effective 1 June 2009 for the 1 January 2008 assessment year.

Click here to see a map of the Mall and the changes in the assessed values of the individual parcels affected by the court decision.

Map by John A. Adams – Property Tax Manager – Office of Auditor

AOB vs Steve and Barrys

Comparing the cost of remodeling the AOB (Administrative Office Building) with the cost to buy and remodel Steve & Barrys (S&B) is like comparing an apple to an orange.  

At 114,156* square feet, S&B is 73% larger than the AOB with the proposed third floor (66,000** square feet).

If you assume that the cost to buy S&B equals the appraised value of the AOB and the cost to remodel both buildings is about the same, then buying S&B would be a better value for taxpayers … if you only considered those assumptions.  

Generally, when you want to convince a person that product A is better than product B, you gather the facts on both products, lay them out side by side on paper, and let the facts speak for themselves.  This hasn’t been done with the AOB vs S&B.  It wasn’t done with Westdale Mall. 

Sometimes the facts get in the way of a good story. 

Sources:

• * County’s lease with City Gate LP
• ** Linn County Planning & Development 

Flood waters surrounded the AOB

One of the people who wanted to rule the world in the last century supposedly said:  If you tell a lie enough times, eventually it will become the truth.

I continue to hear the statement that the flood waters that entered the AOB (Administrative Office Building) arrived via the vacant space around the underground steam pipes connecting the AOB to Penford. 

The only way anyone would know how the water entered the AOB would be if they were in the AOB on June 13th when the flood crested.  And to my knowledge, no one was present at the AOB on the 13th. 

This photo clearly shows flood waters on the sidewalk of the west entrance of the AOB.  I think it’s reasonable to assume that flood waters entered the AOB on the west, north, east, and south sides of the building, but I cannot be certain because I was not there on the 13th.

Please challenge anyone who says the only way the flood waters entered the AOB was via the steam pipes because they were not there on the 13th and they cannot be certain.

Flood waters surrounding the AOB - June 2008

I provided this photo to the Board of Supervisors and the Construction Services Manager on 2 March 2009.

Just because you can does not mean you should

Today, I addressed the Board of Supervisors on two items. 

First, I spoke about the County’s pharmacy plan which charges employees for the retail price of the drugs minus the network savings.  For example, I pay $310.32 to a drugstore and in 10-14 days, I receive a check from Wellmark for $217.22 – Wellmark keeps $93.10 as co-insurance.  My drugstore already knows my co-insurance is $93.10; yet, they take $310.32 from me at the point of sale.  Some entity – the drugstore – the County – or Wellmark gets the benefit of the float – my $217.22 for 10-14 days.  HR says they have received few complaints about this feature of our benefits.  I wonder how many employees fully understand the float?

Second, I told the BOS that I am opposed to selling bonds to remodel/expand the Administrative Office Building without a vote of the people.  I reminded the BOS that they chose not to remodel/expand the AOB a few years ago because they did not believe the voters would support a bond issue.  A week or so ago, the law changed and the BOS can now sell bonds without a vote of the people.  Just because you CAN sell bonds without a vote does not mean you SHOULD sell bonds without a vote. 

To hear what I said, please click on Joel to BOS 5-20-2009

No CR Mayor candidate here

At 5:53pm on April 29^th, I posted the following on http://twitter.com/lcauditor:  

“Just heard there’s a rumor going around that I’m running for Mayor of CR. Great rumor EXCEPT I don’t live in CR – I LIVE IN ROBINS!” 

I made that tweet after one of the REAL candidates for CR Mayor mentioned a rumor he heard. 

This afternoon, I received a call from a CR City Councilor mentioning he heard a rumor from a couple of people that I was running for CR Mayor. 

While this rumor is flattering and funny at the same time, I don’t want my employees, friends, family, and supporters to think that I am thinking about abandoning the job I was just re-elected to six months ago. 

Earlier this week, I did tell Supervisor Linda Langston that the CR Mayor’s job is a more prestigious job than being a County Supervisor … or a County Auditor; however, prestige won’t pay my bills.  I still have to work for a living like most everyone else. 

Did I enjoy being Mayor of Robins?  Heck yes!  Even in a small town everyone knows what a mayor does.  How many of you know what the County Auditor does?  Or a County Supervisor does?  That’s one of the reasons I blog and Twitter – to educate.  

Have fun with this rumor if you must! 

But know that I live in Robins and I have no plans to live within the boundaries of CR in the foreseeable future (and that’s a long time by my standards).  And the last time I looked, a mayor has to reside in the city he/she governs … assuming he/she gets elected.

I am NOT running for CR Mayor!

Iowa’s newest county – the County of Steve & Barry’s

On 4/22, I emailed the Board of Supervisors (BOS) with a request to discuss and possibly take action on at least one outside sign for Linn County West.

 

During today’s (4/27) BOS meeting, the BOS discussed installing an outside sign on Linn County West, but did not invite me to speak on the subject.  Instead, they discussed the cost of a sign (too much), the fact that the temporary Cedar Rapids City Hall has an Aegon sign out front (as if that’s best practice), and that the public could certainly find us at Westdale Mall (100+ storefronts on 63 acres).  They discussed leaving the Steve & Barry’s sign in place, but then learned the sign had already been removed.

 

We install Linn County emblems on our vehicles and customize our letterhead and we’re going to install signage inside of Linn County West so the public can find our offices/departments. 

 

But when it comes to a County leased building housing 300+ employees and the seat of County government, we should have left the existing sign on the building because we’re only going to be here for 12-36 months.  And besides, lighted signs are expensive.

 

Welcome to the County of Steve & Barry’s ….

 

To listen to the remarks I made at today’s (4/27) BOS meeting, click on comments-to-bos-on-4-27-2009-re-outside-sign

 

My 4/22 email to the BOS 

From: Miller, Joel
Sent: Wed 4/22/2009 5:25 PM
To: BOS Agenda
Cc: Fagerbakke, Garth
Subject: BOS agenda: April 27th

Discuss and possibly take action on at least one outside, lighted sign for Linn County West.

 

Background:  Garth has indicated there are no plans to purchase and install a sign on the outside of Linn County West.  If that is the Board’s decision, I disagree with it for the following reasons:

 

1.        Based upon the existing lease, County government will be located in Linn County West for up to 36 months – which is certainly a long enough period of time to justify a sign.

2.        We are a $100M+ business.  We will have 300+ employees and the seat of county government located in Linn County West.  What message are we sending to the public by not installing a sign?  A)  We are cheap  B)  We don’t care if the public finds us  C)  We have no pride in ourselves and what we do  D)  We assume everyone including those new to the community knows where Westdale Mall is located – knows where Steve & Barry’s was located – knows where Montgomery Wards was located.

3.        Can you imagine driving to Aegon or Rockwell and not finding a sign on their properties and/or their buildings? 

4.        Our name is our brand.

5.        We are supposed to be customer friendly.  No sign(s) = not customer friendly.

6.        We’ve already spent approximately $250K to remodel LCW during Phase 1.  On top of that, we are responsible for tearing out everything we installed at the end of the lease.  Is throwing away a $10K, $15K, or $20K sign (that potentially could be reused on another County building) somehow worse that demolishing $200K+ of sheetrock?

 

Regards,

 

Joel D Miller

Linn County Auditor

Town hall meeting in Coggon on 4/23

According to the Annual Budget report prepared by Linn County’s Office of Finance and Budget, Linn County has six strategies with #2 being: Achieve Effective Communications.

 

One of the goals within strategy #2 is to: Conduct “town hall” meetings throughout Linn County. 

 

That goal is further defined as: The Board of Supervisors will continue to hold informal “town hall meetings” in local gathering spots around the county to gather information from residents on various topics.

 

Here’s your chance to ask the BOS questions on any topic, e.g., on wood burning boilers, trash on County Home Road, the plasma arc, budgets, rural roads, Westdale Mall, Linn County West, building plans, televising meetings, or strategic plans.

 

I realize it might be a wonderful evening to avoid being inside, but how often do you get to actually attend a meeting of the BOS (maybe that’s a topic) … and ask questions … AND GET AN ANSWER?

 

 

 

 

Linn County Board of Supervisors

to Hold Town Hall Meeting in Coggon

 

 

WHAT: The Linn County Board of Supervisors will hold a Town Hall meeting in Coggon to discuss county-related issues. Staff from the Secondary Road Department will also give a presentation on Linn County’s five-year road plan and discuss how the County will use local option sales tax revenue to improve the secondary road system.

 

 

WHEN: 7pm on Thursday, April 23, 2009

 

 

WHERE: The Old Opera House on Main Street in downtown Coggon

 

 

WHO: The meeting is open to all Linn County residents.