Iowa has 99 counties, which is the most per capita of any state in the union. Recently, a bill was introduced in the state legislature that would require us to cut that number in half by 2014. Good or bad idea?
32 comments:
Diamond Dave
said...
Iowa has been a no population growth state for 80 years. Consolidation and cost-cutting is needed.
Only the voters can push something like that through the legislature. Because they are the ones benefitting from the unnatural convenience of 99 courthouses, they will never back that legislation. It will take an act of God. Or Obama.
The county system is ridiculously archaic and an inefficient set up. Originally, some one decided that nobody should be more than a day's journey from the county seat. In the days of horses, that was about 30 miles, so all the county seats were laid out on a grid 30 miles or so apart.
Back then it didn't cost too much to keep the courthouse going, and everyone was happy. Now they are very expensive to maintain, and the value of having one for a few thousand people is being scrutinized. Only Wyoming, North and South Dakota, and Montana average less folks per courthouse than Iowa.
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have abolished county governments. Places as sparsely populated as Iowa should look at doing the same.
I would think Des Moines (Polk County), Cedar Rapids (Linn County), Davenport (Scott County), Sioux City (Woodbury County), Waterloo (Blackhawk County), and (Iowa City (Johnson County) would have enough votes to pass this legislation. The bigger population cities wouldn't lose a thing and more than likely would swallow up a few neighboring lesser populated counties.
I think a number closer to 25 county seats should be the goal. If the goal is 50, Iowa loses 49 county seats. If the goal is 25, Iowa loses 74 county seats. In either scenario, Greene County is an obvious loser.
Small, dying towns like Jefferson, currently county seats, would cartwheel towards oblivion without their county seat status. This law would be the death knell to Jefferson.
Only 10 counties out of 99 in Iowa have populations considered AVERAGE nationally. Greene County, being in the bottom 20 in population, is an obvious loser as anonymous correctly points out.
Did you know that there are counties in Iowa with as few as 4,000 people? The whole county!
Does anybody know how many people work for the county? We need to extrapolate and see how many jobs we'd be cutting. How many county jobs do you really need for a county of 4,000 - if it was combined with a neighboring county (maybe pop. 6,000) - could the same staff handle both?
Death knell indeed. I like the way it rolls from the tongue. As the bells toll, Scranton and Grand Junction dudes will snap up the newly available apartments "on the square". They will be thrown out as squatters when they cannot identify the statue out front. They will walk over to Carl's and stand outside for months. Then they will go back to high school. Jefferson citizens will follow the cowpath to Fareway and bleat about warm beer. Redfern will turn his coolers down to .001 degree above freezing. Lines will wind down Chestnut to the high school. Beer trucks will back up to the unfinished railroad overpass. Don Mull will purchase the old Dueseyburger and rename it the Dueseyburger. I could continue but no.
The populations in and around Des Moines, West Des Moines, Cedar Rapids-Cedar Falls, Ankeny-Ames, Iowa City, and Davenport-Bettendorf would have to vote very heavily in favor of the proposed bill to reduce counties for it to even have a breath of a chance.
Too bad, but most of Iowa is old people and the group of seniors we have now have a tremendous feeling of entitlement. They won't want to be inconvenienced with 30-minute commutes, even though everyone else will have to pay for it.
Retired people nowadays aren't concerned with the amount of money ebveryone else pays for them to be comfortable. That is also why they are against any kind of health care reform. It is after all, all about them.
Iowa should shoot for about seven counties, one basically remaining Polk County. Don't do it halfway (that is so like Iowans), but instead streamline it as an example for the other states.
Seven counties? Are you crazy? How is Larry D. going to get to his court dates on time? Every state has more than seven counties. I really don't see what the problem here is. As they say, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
The only thing is that Georgia has three or four times the population Iowa has. Georgia is something like the 8th or 9th most populous state.
On the other hand, no one lives in Iowa. The only state with fewer people per house seat than Iowa is Rhode Island. Iowa really doesn't stack up that well when compared with other states. Any time you have a courthouse and county offices full of employees to serve a few thousnad people, even those employees HAVE TO KNOW that they are unneeded.
You have to ask yourself if your goal of consolidation and losing 50-80 counties is worth 5-10,000 losing their jobs. Many more Iowans additionally would be impacted by this bill.
The savings you are hoping to realize almost certainly would never show up, but instead that money would be divided among the remaining counties.
The county governments will use an array of time tested dick moves to maintain their control over thousands of octogenarian Iowans whose biggest worry is when they will get the dog back from the taxidermist. They will dwell on loss of services such as snow plowing and road maintenance, graveyard upkeep and etc. that will scare retired, abandoned farm widows right off their cumulative thunderjug and get the vote they want. Yes. These are not county government issues, but county maintenance items, that will need to remain in place. County government - Gladys has worked at the courthouse for 45 years. Most likely that is 43 years too long, given the two years it took her to realize that she could stay home all day and give everyone the same dose of non-performance that won her that college degree.
A property tax reduction from some of the savings makes this more palatable. $100,000,000+ in labor savings + over 50 courthouses closings would persuade some of those whose ox is not being gored.
I don't think all the county employees in counties losing courthouses would be let go. There are maintenance workers for roads and parks that probably would be kept on.
On the other hand, there would not be a need for 3 County Auditors in the newly consolidated Carboogre County.
This same legislation was tried in Nebraska in 2008. It was voted down, in large part because irate government workers complained that they were already having to do more than one job.
For instance, a county with only 5,000 people in it might have the clerk doubling up as the recorder. I don't know of any Iowa counties that are doing this, but I am sure that those guys wearing two or three hats still go through entire days with nothing to do.
These county employees will fight very hard to keep those jobs.
Republican Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is pushing the idea of putting Reagan on the $50 bill, replacing U.S. Grant. Hmmmm? Grant was Lincoln's general that led the union over the confederates. Is that why someone from N.C. wants his face off the $50 bill? Probably. Instead of dropping Grant for Reagan, I suggest we put General William Tecumseh Sherman's face on the $50 for a few years, then go back to Grant. That should really annoy the "good ol' boys".
Many county governments could merge with city governments, too. Polk county and Des moines have tried this, but couldn't get together on it. It looks like for now nobody is willing to give up their overlapping jobs.
I am surprised that, given our politically correct culture, nobody has demanded that we put the likeness of an African-American on a coin or bill. God knows we were forced to recognize Reverend King when they demanded to know why there were no holidays for blacks.
It is only a matter of time until we'll find Martin Luther King or Don King or some other person on a two-dollar bill.
Speaking of counties,I am becoming alarmed at the number of unreported goat-related deaths in Greene County. On March 15, 7 people were lost in an incident involving a goat and an anvil. This is three more than the daily average. On Feb.23, 5 people were lost, this time involving a goat and a fence stretcher. 2 more than the daily average. Families of the deceased have acknowledged to me that the deaths remain unreported because, as one of the widows remarked, "If we say anything, the next thing you, Michael Vick is there, knocking at your door. We had enough of that after the last goat thing." This is a disturbing trend, and I will continue to track this in my ongoing research.
Big Nasty must be referring to the farm accident a few weeks back in rural Guthrie County. The woman survived, despite her weight, but the two sheep were impaled on the post hole digger.
Many of these incidents could be avoided by simply wearing safety goggles and latex gloves.
Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver have both been on US coins. Although millions were minted between 1946 and 1951, they are no longer inj circulation.
Fred has an awesome haircut that would totally own a U.S. coin, but engraving costs would relegate this to a $50 - $100 dollar coin if it is released for circulation in the U.S. Prepare to see it released somewhere on an island for $19.95. The professor will do the minting with a coconut bong, while Ginger and MaryAnn wait in line to get into the club.
I personally think it would be very difficult portray one's blackness on a silver coin or on green currency. You would need to overemphasize the fro or lips or something else, instead of the basic color.
32 comments:
Iowa has been a no population growth state for 80 years. Consolidation and cost-cutting is needed.
Only the voters can push something like that through the legislature. Because they are the ones benefitting from the unnatural convenience of 99 courthouses, they will never back that legislation. It will take an act of God. Or Obama.
The county system is ridiculously archaic and an inefficient set up. Originally, some one decided that nobody should be more than a day's journey from the county seat. In the days of horses, that was about 30 miles, so all the county seats were laid out on a grid 30 miles or so apart.
Back then it didn't cost too much to keep the courthouse going, and everyone was happy. Now they are very expensive to maintain, and the value of having one for a few thousand people is being scrutinized. Only Wyoming, North and South Dakota, and Montana average less folks per courthouse than Iowa.
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have abolished county governments. Places as sparsely populated as Iowa should look at doing the same.
I would think Des Moines (Polk County), Cedar Rapids (Linn County), Davenport (Scott County), Sioux City (Woodbury County), Waterloo (Blackhawk County), and (Iowa City (Johnson County) would have enough votes to pass this legislation. The bigger population cities wouldn't lose a thing and more than likely would swallow up a few neighboring lesser populated counties.
I think a number closer to 25 county seats should be the goal. If the goal is 50, Iowa loses 49 county seats. If the goal is 25, Iowa loses 74 county seats. In either scenario, Greene County is an obvious loser.
Small, dying towns like Jefferson, currently county seats, would cartwheel towards oblivion without their county seat status. This law would be the death knell to Jefferson.
Only 10 counties out of 99 in Iowa have populations considered AVERAGE nationally. Greene County, being in the bottom 20 in population, is an obvious loser as anonymous correctly points out.
Did you know that there are counties in Iowa with as few as 4,000 people? The whole county!
Does anybody know how many people work for the county? We need to extrapolate and see how many jobs we'd be cutting. How many county jobs do you really need for a county of 4,000 - if it was combined with a neighboring county (maybe pop. 6,000) - could the same staff handle both?
Death knell indeed. I like the way it rolls from the tongue. As the bells toll, Scranton and Grand Junction dudes will snap up the newly available apartments "on the square". They will be thrown out as squatters when they cannot identify the statue out front. They will walk over to Carl's and stand outside for months. Then they will go back to high school. Jefferson citizens will follow the cowpath to Fareway and bleat about warm beer. Redfern will turn his coolers down to .001 degree above freezing. Lines will wind down Chestnut to the high school. Beer trucks will back up to the unfinished railroad overpass. Don Mull will purchase the old Dueseyburger and rename it the Dueseyburger. I could continue but no.
The populations in and around Des Moines, West Des Moines, Cedar Rapids-Cedar Falls, Ankeny-Ames, Iowa City, and Davenport-Bettendorf would have to vote very heavily in favor of the proposed bill to reduce counties for it to even have a breath of a chance.
Too bad, but most of Iowa is old people and the group of seniors we have now have a tremendous feeling of entitlement. They won't want to be inconvenienced with 30-minute commutes, even though everyone else will have to pay for it.
Retired people nowadays aren't concerned with the amount of money ebveryone else pays for them to be comfortable. That is also why they are against any kind of health care reform. It is after all, all about them.
Iowa should shoot for about seven counties, one basically remaining Polk County. Don't do it halfway (that is so like Iowans), but instead streamline it as an example for the other states.
Seven counties? Are you crazy? How is Larry D. going to get to his court dates on time? Every state has more than seven counties. I really don't see what the problem here is. As they say, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
Georgia has 159 counties. Iowa is doing good.
The only thing is that Georgia has three or four times the population Iowa has. Georgia is something like the 8th or 9th most populous state.
On the other hand, no one lives in Iowa. The only state with fewer people per house seat than Iowa is Rhode Island. Iowa really doesn't stack up that well when compared with other states. Any time you have a courthouse and county offices full of employees to serve a few thousnad people, even those employees HAVE TO KNOW that they are unneeded.
You have to ask yourself if your goal of consolidation and losing 50-80 counties is worth 5-10,000 losing their jobs. Many more Iowans additionally would be impacted by this bill.
The savings you are hoping to realize almost certainly would never show up, but instead that money would be divided among the remaining counties.
The county governments will use an array of time tested dick moves to maintain their control over thousands of octogenarian Iowans whose biggest worry is when they will get the dog back from the taxidermist. They will dwell on loss of services such as snow plowing and road maintenance, graveyard upkeep and etc. that will scare retired, abandoned farm widows right off their cumulative thunderjug and get the vote they want. Yes. These are not county government issues, but county maintenance items, that will need to remain in place. County government - Gladys has worked at the courthouse for 45 years. Most likely that is 43 years too long, given the two years it took her to realize that she could stay home all day and give everyone the same dose of non-performance that won her that college degree.
A property tax reduction from some of the savings makes this more palatable. $100,000,000+ in labor savings + over 50 courthouses closings would persuade some of those whose ox is not being gored.
I don't think all the county employees in counties losing courthouses would be let go. There are maintenance workers for roads and parks that probably would be kept on.
On the other hand, there would not be a need for 3 County Auditors in the newly consolidated Carboogre County.
This same legislation was tried in Nebraska in 2008. It was voted down, in large part because irate government workers complained that they were already having to do more than one job.
For instance, a county with only 5,000 people in it might have the clerk doubling up as the recorder. I don't know of any Iowa counties that are doing this, but I am sure that those guys wearing two or three hats still go through entire days with nothing to do.
These county employees will fight very hard to keep those jobs.
Fourteen U.S. Congressmen have introduced a bill that would put Ronald Reagan's image on the $50 bill. Good idea?
Republican Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is pushing the idea of putting Reagan on the $50 bill, replacing U.S. Grant. Hmmmm? Grant was Lincoln's general that led the union over the confederates. Is that why someone from N.C. wants his face off the $50 bill? Probably. Instead of dropping Grant for Reagan, I suggest we put General William Tecumseh Sherman's face on the $50 for a few years, then go back to Grant. That should really annoy the "good ol' boys".
Someone wake me up when this topic drops out of sight. Boring and a waste of time.
I'm all for renaming the entire state of Georgia "Sherman". Think we could push it through?
Many county governments could merge with city governments, too. Polk county and Des moines have tried this, but couldn't get together on it. It looks like for now nobody is willing to give up their overlapping jobs.
I am surprised that, given our politically correct culture, nobody has demanded that we put the likeness of an African-American on a coin or bill. God knows we were forced to recognize Reverend King when they demanded to know why there were no holidays for blacks.
It is only a matter of time until we'll find Martin Luther King or Don King or some other person on a two-dollar bill.
"I'm all for renaming the entire state of Georgia "Sherman". Think we could push it through?" Anon
The new state motto? Tanks for the memories.
Speaking of counties,I am becoming alarmed at the number of unreported goat-related deaths in Greene County. On March 15, 7 people were lost in an incident involving a goat and an anvil. This is three more than the daily average. On Feb.23, 5 people were lost, this time involving a goat and a fence stretcher. 2 more than the daily average. Families of the deceased have acknowledged to me that the deaths remain unreported because, as one of the widows remarked, "If we say anything, the next thing you, Michael Vick is there, knocking at your door. We had enough of that after the last goat thing." This is a disturbing trend, and I will continue to track this in my ongoing research.
This is an alarming trend.
Big Nasty must be referring to the farm accident a few weeks back in rural Guthrie County. The woman survived, despite her weight, but the two sheep were impaled on the post hole digger.
Many of these incidents could be avoided by simply wearing safety goggles and latex gloves.
Anonymous-Thanks for the clarification.
Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver have both been on US coins. Although millions were minted between 1946 and 1951, they are no longer inj circulation.
There is currently a movement to put Frederick Douglas on a US coin. Any thoughts?
Fred has an awesome haircut that would totally own a U.S. coin, but engraving costs would relegate this to a $50 - $100 dollar coin if it is released for circulation in the U.S. Prepare to see it released somewhere on an island for $19.95. The professor will do the minting with a coconut bong, while Ginger and MaryAnn wait in line to get into the club.
I personally think it would be very difficult portray one's blackness on a silver coin or on green currency. You would need to overemphasize the fro or lips or something else, instead of the basic color.
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