CEDAR RAPIDS AND CORRIDOR INTEGRITY AND OPERATING EFFICIENCY RANKINGS

7-12-10

Baseline integrity and operating efficiency levels for 45 contributors and obstacles to progress,  for Cedar Rapids and the Corridor were evaluated and released on Jan. 8, 2010.   This baseline has since been expanded to include 50 contributors and obstacles to progress, as presented herein.   Planning performance ranking was also added in a separate table  below.  6 organizations had worse performance on June 30 than they did on Jan. 1 None improved—and likely had no plans, commitments or expectations to improve. 

The following 4 tables show the 6 organizations that worsened, the new rankings—including planning, & Mayor Corbett’s falling Integrity Levels.  Residents are well informed on what the worsening organizations have been up to, so there is no need to repeat the details here.  The numbers tell the dismal story. 

 Marion planning is so bad it ought to be abandoned.   The Cedar Rapids Council is approaching the level (40) of grand larceny—in the entertainment and lodging monkey businesses.  One can only hope it does not do even worse in the “flood protection” business by successfully promoting re-occupancy of the disastrous Cedar River flood plain.   

 The C. R. mayor and council are already on record for defying and petitioning against sensible actions and rulings made by FEMA and the Corps of Engineers—whose avg. integrity levels are 405 & 570 respectively, which dwarf the Council’s 45

              THE FOLLOWING TABLES LEAD THE FIELD IN PUBLIC SCRUTINY 

PERFORMANCE OF 6 CORRIDOR ORGANIZATIONS WORSENED IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS.  3 ARE IN CEDAR RAPIDS!!

DESCRIPTION OF CONTRIBUTORS, OR OBSTACLES, TO COMMUNITY & CORRIDOR PROGRESS AND IMPROVED INTEGRITY, STANDARD OF LIVING,  ETC.

*AVG. INTEGRITY AS OF 1-1-10.

AVG. OP.  EFF. AS OF 1-1-10

*AVG. INTEGRITY AS OF 6-30-10.

AVG. OP.  EFF. AS OF 6-30-10

JOHNSON COUNTY, COUNTY

320

39%

250

 

IOWA CITY COUNCIL

220

25%

160

 

GAZETTE

210

41%

180

 

C. R. COUNCIL

80

30%

45

 

C. R. SCHOOL DIST.

40

30%

20

 

MARION PLANNING

35

15%

 

10%

 

TABLE RANKS 50 CONTRIBUTORS & OBSTACLES TO CEDAR RAPIDS & CORRIDOR PROGRESS

NONE OF THE FOLLOWING 50 ORGANIZATIONS IMPROVED IN THE PAST 6 MOTHS.  6 GOT WORSE, AND 3 OF THOSE ARE IN CEDAR RAPIDS--INCLUDING THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL--WHO FREWED THEMSELVES AND THE COMMUNITY! 

BASELINE CONDITIONS FOR CEDAR RAPIDS AND CORRIDOR.  THOSE IN RED ARE OBSTACLES TO  PROGRESS AT THIS TIME.  THE LOWER THE RED NUMBER, THE GREATER THE OBSTACLE.

INTEGRITY RANK

DESCRIPTION OF CONTRIBUTORS, OR OBSTACLES, TO COMMUNITY & CORRIDOR PROGRESS AND IMPROVED INTEGRITY, STANDARD OF LIVING,  ETC.

*AVG. INTEGRITY AS OF 6-30-10.

AVG. OP.  EFF. AS OF 6-30-10

1

PALO CITY COUNCIL

540

55%

2

CORRIDOR CITIZENS

520

NA

3

UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS

520

40%

4

ROBINS CITY COUNCIL

500

45%

5

KFAX TV-28

460

39%

6

DOCTORS

430

56%

7

HIAWATHA CITY COUNCIL

430

40%

8

MARION CITY MANAGER

415

55%

9

MERCY HOSPITAL

380

49%

10

KGAN TV-2

330

30%

11

SMALL BUSINESSES

325

58%

12

SMALL NON-PROFITS

320

46%

13

NORTH LIBERTY, CITY

320

43%

14

MARION SCHOOL DIST.

320

39%

15

MARION, CITY

320

38%

16

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

320

38%

17

NORTH LIBERTY COUNCIL

320

38%

18

CORALVILLE, CITY

320

36%

19

LINN-MAR SCHOOL DIST.

320

30%

20

MARION CITY COUNCIL

310

42%

21

Cedar Rapids Building & Construction, Union

310

35%

22

LARGE BUSINESSES

280

50%

23

LARGE NON-PROFITS

280

25%

24

GRANT WOOD AEA

270

24%

25

KIRKWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

260

39%

26

I.C. PRESS CITIZEN

260

30%

27

JOHNSON COUNTY, COUNTY

250

39%

28

LINN COUNTY, COUNTY

230

37%

29

MARION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CO.

230

35%

30

IBEW Local 405, Union

230

32%

31

AFSCME--PUBLIC WORKERS UNION

230

15%

32

CORALVILLE COUNCIL

210

35%

33

IOWA CITY, CITY

205

30%

34

MARION TIMES

200

45%

35

ST. LUKES HOSPITAL

200

36%

36

IOWA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

200

35%

37

GAZETTE

180

41%

38

MARION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

160

35%

39

LINN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

160

30%

40

IOWA CITY COUNCIL

160

25%

41

C. R. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

140

15%

42

JOHNSON CO. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

130

35%

43

Teamsters Local 238, Union

110

28%

44

LAWYERS

90

20%

45

KCRG TV-9

70

25%

46

C. R. CITY MANAGER

60

20%

47

C. R. COUNCIL

45

30%

48

CEDAR RAPIDS, CITY

30

30%

49

C. R. SCHOOL DIST.

20

30%

50

  ISEA, TEACHERS UNION

15

15%

*AVG. INTEGRITY INDEX LEVEL, ON SCALE OF 0 TO 1,000, WHERE SIGNIFICANT INTEGRITY STARTS AT 300, BASED ON ADHERENCE TO MORAL AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES.

ANYONE CLAIMING TO HAVE BETTER NUMBERS IS ASKED TO PROVIDE THEM FOR EVALUATION AND COMPARISON

 

TABLE RANKS CORRIDOR PLANNING INTEGRITY AND OPERATING EFFICIENCIES

INTEGRITY RANK

DESCRIPTION OF CONTRIBUTORS, OR OBSTACLES, TO COMMUNITY & CORRIDOR PLANNING PROGRESS

*AVG. INTEGRITY AS OF 6-30-10.

AVG. OP.  EFF. AS OF 6-30-10

1

ROBINS

380

66%

2

NORTH LIBERTY

330

60%

3

HIAWATHA

320

58%

4

PALO

260

53%

5

JOHNSON COUNTY

210

52%

6

CORALVILLE

140

43%

7

LINN COUNTY

120

35%

8

IOWA CITY

70

29%

9

CEDAR RAPIDS

50

27%

10

MARION

35

10%

*AVG. INTEGRITY INDEX LEVEL, ON SCALE OF 0 TO 1,000, WHERE SIGNIFICANT INTEGRITY STARTS AT 300, BASED ON ADHERENCE TO MORAL AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES.  GRAND LARCENY IS COMPARABLE TO LEVEL 40.

ANYONE CLAIMING TO HAVE BETTER NUMBERS IS ASKED TO PROVIDE THEM FOR EVALUATION AND COMPARISON

MAYOR CORBETT’S INTEGRITY LEVELS

MAYOR CORBETT'S INTEGRITY RECORD, AS MAYOR OF CEDAR RAPIDS

DATE

ACTIONS CORBETT EITHER PERFORMED, INITIATED OR SUPPORTED

Integrity Index Level On Scale of 0 to 1,000, Where Significant Integrity Starts at 300

2009

MAYORAL CAMPAIGN

720

FEB ‘10

ORGANIZED COUNCIL INTO COMMITTEES

900

FEB ‘10

IMPLEMENTED VOTE ON LIBRARY

550

MAR ’10

INCREASED FLOOD PAYMENT TO 107%

850

MAR ‘10

HELD BETTER LINE ON CITY BUDGET

450

VARIOUS

HELD MANY PUBLIC FORUMS ON FLOOD RECOVERY & PROTECTION

875

MAR '10

DECISION TO RETURN TO CITY HALL

710

MAR '10

HAVE GREG EYERLY REPORT DIRECTLY TO COUNCIL RATHER THAN CITY MANAGER

720

MAR '10

HAVE CITY MANAGER FOCUS ON JOB CREATION--THE BEST CHOICE AVAILABLE

5

MAR '10

RESISTED BUYOUT DEDUCTION

20

MAR '10

FAVORS HOTEL TAX INCREASE

110

MAR '10

CHANGING 1 WAY STREETS TO 2 WAY FOR MED CENTER---IF CORBETT FAVORS IT!!

210

MAR '10

MODIFY CALCULATION OF FLOOD PROTECTION COST/BENEFIT RATIO TO GET MORE MONEY FOR C. R. FLOOD PROTECTION

40

APR '10

ACCEPTING  RESIGNATION OF CITY MANAGER

750

APR '10

STARTED OVER ON CITY FLOOD PROTECTION PLAN

810

APR '10

HIRING A BETTER CITY MANAGER WITHOUT USE OF A SEARCH FIRM

600

APR '10

HIRING EVENT-CENTER DEVELOPER JOHN FREW., FOR A NO-BID, 6%, $4 MILLION FEE, WITHOUT SERIOUSLY SEEKING OR CONSIDERING OTHERS FOR THE $65 MILLION EVENT CENTER & U. S. CELLULAR CENTER PROJECTS

15

MAY '10

AGREEING TO CLOSE 2ND AVE. FOR A MEDICAL COMPLEX

60

MAY '10

HIRING THOMS AS INTERIM MANAGER TO APPLY FOR STATE  I-JOBS MONEY

105

MAY '10

FAILURE TO EFFECTIVELY PURSUE TIMOTHY HANSON AS CITY MANAGER

200

MAY '10

INTENTION & EFFORTS TO HAVE OTHERS PAY FOR FLOOD RECOVERY AND TO PAY FOR CEDAR RAPIDS TO OCCUPY THE CEDAR RIVER FLOOD PLAIN

5

MAY '10

HELPED GET HIGHWAY 100 ROAD PROJECT ON 5-YEAR PLAN

280

JUNE '10

PROPOSED CITY PURCHASE OF CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL

15

JUN '10

BRIBING BUSINESSES TO LEAVE HIAWATHA ETC. TO LOCATE IN DISASTROUS CEDAR RAPIDS FLOOD PLAIN

15

JUN '10

METHOD USED TO HIRE POMERANZ AND TO PAY HIM $225,000 ANNUALLY, AT START

10

JUN '10

DECISION TO DEMOLISH SINCLAIR SMOKE STACK

750

JUN '10

CONTINUED PURSUIT OF BUSINESSES TO OCCUPY DISASTROUS CEDAR RIVER FLOOD PLAIN

1

JUN '10

REFUSAL TO ACCEPT CORPS' GUIDELINES FOR FLOOD 'PROTECTION'

15

JUL' 10

DISPUTING FEMA'S REFUSAL TO PAY FOR BOGUS FLOOD DAMAGE CLAIMS

3

JUL' 10

ACCEPTING FREW'S RECOMMENDATION TO BUY DOWNTOWN HOTEL--WHEN PRIVATE SECTOR WON'T TOUCH IT!

15

 

WEIGHTED AVERAGE

105

 

CONDITIONS BEYOND CORBETT'S SPAN OF CONTROL AT THE TIME

 

MAR '10

UNION PAY RAISE AGREEMENT

30

AN INDEX LEVEL OF 40 IS COMPARABLE TO GRAND LARCENY

Anyone claiming to have better numbers is asked to provide them. 

 The cost to have consultants perform and report the results of the evaluations reported herein is estimated to be at least $5.5 Million. 

 It is interesting the Gazette is now evaluating and reporting on the ‘integrity’ of some consumer products--while it completely ignores reporting on its own integrity, and that of *49 other major organizations in the area as well.    But we do give the Gazette credit for taking a small ‘integrity’ step in the right direction!!    Stay tuned for more on this!