Cities give new meaning to 'shovel-ready'

by Frank James

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has a list of projects city officials across the nation would like to fund through the federal economic stimulus dollars currently being debated in Washington.

The projects, mentioned in a Wall Street Journal story, are so-called shovel ready and, as far as some of them are concerned, we all know what's being shoveled.

An excerpt:

Las Vegas, which by some accounts already glitters, wants $2 million for neon signs.

Although the bulk of proposals are roads, sewers and similar projects, some wouldn't require a shovel at all. The mayors group sees a potential 1.6 million new jobs from the projects, though a few of them wouldn't create any.

Some localities are using a kitchen-sink strategy. "Our approach has been to list everything, because we don't know what the final guidelines will be or what the final dollar amount will be," says Greg MacLean, public-works director in Lincoln, Neb.

Among entries on Lincoln's list is a $3 million environmentally friendly clubhouse for a municipal golf course. "From a public-perception standpoint, I see how it could be an issue," Mr. MacLean says. But, he says, construction would create 54 jobs.

As the WSJ points out in fairness, most of the projects on the list appear to be of the type most of us think of when we hear the word "infrastructure."

But what makes a story like this get a lot of attention, and what outrages lawmakers and taxpayers, are the projects that seem more fanciful, the ones that seem of the sort that are done when there's money to burn.

Another snippet:

Shreveport, La., has $2.3 billion in projects ready to go. Mayor Cedric Glover's priority is repairing roads, but he's also asking $6 million for three aquatic centers with water slides, which he says would improve quality of life and create construction jobs.

And he would like the U.S. to buy Shreveport eight new Harley-Davidson motorcycles for its cops. This item would produce little local hiring, he acknowledges, but "Harley-Davidson is a great American company. Orders coming from municipalities like ours to a company like that certainly would be stimulative."

This is the kind of thing that always happens when there's a lot of federal money being pushed out of Washington. When the federal government started showering municipalities with homeland-security money after 9/11, there were reports of a lot of dubious spending back then. For instance, one city purchased leather jackets for its police officers.

Another excerpt:

The Conference of Mayors report has about a dozen golf-course-related projects. A lot of cities want to use funds to upgrade parks, such as Chula Vista, with its plans for a dog park that would include shading and fountains. San Bernadino, Calif., wants $1.1 million for park improvements, including a skateboard ramp and two "splash-park installations." City officials in the communities say these aren't their top priorities, but defend the projects as worthwhile.

Austin, Texas, could use $886,000 to build a 36-hole "disc golf" course, for frisbee tossing. It would be "environmentally and financially sustainable." John Hrncir, government-relations officer, says the project list "was put together on very short notice," and "we are not going to submit anything that is questionable when we seek actual funding."

This story is guaranteed to be cited numerous times on Capitol Hill by lawmakers and staff worried about wasteful spending in the economic stimulus.