Golden Hydrant goes to extension of ineffective teen pregnancy program
The newest Golden Fire Hydrant goes to the county’s “Better Together Hennepin: Healthy Youth, Healthy Communities” teen pregnancy prevention program. Last week the board voted 6 -1 to extend the program two years and spend another $518,000 (for a 4-year total of $1.1 million), despite receiving a report on the program showing it’s doing little or nothing to change the sexual behavior of the kids in the program.
“Better Together Hennepin” actually consists of several different teen pregnancy prevention programs that the county has been funding for two years - apparently to little success. Included are education and outreach programs through several different vendors, including Planned Parenthood, the Annex Teen Clinic and the Storefront Group. Also, the program includes funding two half-time sex education teachers in the Richfield and Brooklyn Center public schools.
The board chose to fund these programs for another two years despite seeing outcome studies that show they are ineffective in changing kids’ sexual behavior. This decision is a great example of government throwing money at a problem because it makes us feel good to be doing SOMETHING, even if that something is having no positive effect. Read more…
Golden Hydrant goes to Feds for spending $145 Million on stupid TV commercials to market Census 2010
As I was paying bills the other night during the Olympics, I saw yet another of those annoying 2010 U.S. Census commercials and decided - as I was grumbling about government waste under my breath - that it was time to award another Golden Fire Hydrant.
The U.S. government is spending $340 million to market the 2010 Census. About $145 million of that is for the creation and airing of television commercials, which can be seen during the most expensive time slots in TV (including a $2.5 million 30-second spot during the Super Bowl).
The ads stink, by anyone’s definition. They use marginally famous actors in a painfully unsuccessful attempt to be humorous. They share practically no useful information (not even telling viewers to fill out their census forms) and are unlikely to convince anyone who is opposed to or disinterested in completing the form to do so.
The Hydrant usually goes to a Hennepin County expenditure and, in the past, I have avoided calling out federal programs (as I would be posting on wasteful spending four times a day). But the combination of paying my bills and seeing one of these annoying multi-million dollar commercials for the umpteenth time put me over the edge. Read more…
Golden Hydrant goes to Lowry Avenue Bridge
We’re in the midst of budget hearings and property tax discussions on the Hennepin County Board, so it’s been awhile since I last awarded a Golden Fire Hydrant, but I can’t pass this one up. The newest Hydrant goes to the Board’s decision to spend an extra $14 million to make the new Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis a “signature” bridge - meaning it will look much fancier than most other bridges in Minnesota.
A little background:
The Lowry Avenue Bridge was built in 1905 and spans the Mississippi at Lowry Avenue in North Minneapolis. For over 100 years, the bridge carried motorists over the Mississippi almost uninterrupted until it was closed last year based upon the discovery that one of the bridge piers had shifted.
After that discovery, the county appropriately decided that the old bridge was no longer structurally safe and needed to be demolished and rebuilt. Read more…
Golden Hydrant goes to Property Tax Study Project
The latest Golden Fire Hydrant award goes to the Property Tax Study Project, an endeavor Hennepin County has funded on and off for the past decade.
Bottom line (and pardon my crudeness): Government is giving the finger to the taxpayers of Hennepin County as it spends taxpayer money to lobby the legislature for increased taxes on those same taxpayers. Read more…
Taxpayers fund “wet housing” for alcoholics where they’re allowed to continue drinking
Hennepin County (and government in general) spends a great deal of money on treatment programs for individuals addicted to drugs and alcohol. In my opinion, much of this money is well-spent.
I learned last week, however, of a housing program receiving Hennepin County funding that takes a unique (and I would argue ridiculous) approach to taxpayer-funded “treatment” for chronic alcoholics. The program is referred to as a “wet house” or “non-sober house” in which chronic inebriates are provided housing and other government services on a long-term basis - and are allowed to continue drinking!
Hennepin County’s wet house funding is receiving the newest Golden Fire Hydrant award. Read more…
County Spends $700,000 on Landscaping at Garbage Burner
The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (”HERC” a.k.a. “the garbage burner”) is a hulking complex in Minneapolis next to the new Twins stadium that can often be seen billowing smoke on a cold winter morning. It’s not a bad looking place (as far as county garbage burners go). It’s clean, neat and tastefully painted in pale tan with chocolate brown accent walls. “Not bad-looking”, however, just doesn’t cut it anymore for the HERC, at least not now that higher class neighbors are about to move in.
Last month, the county board approved a $1.95 million project to make the HERC look and smell a little better. Read more…
New solar panels will save taxpayers $15,000 per year in energy costs - starting in 2070
We in Hennepin County government have recently been congratulating ourselves about the new solar panels just installed on the county’s Public Works building in Medina. The panels are touted as a great success story for county taxpayers because they are saving $15,000 per year in energy costs.
I believe this sort of project can be a great use of taxpayer dollars. If there are “green” improvements that we can make to county buildings that save us money down the road (within a reasonable period of time), I’m on board.
When I was first told about the panels, I asked what I assumed was a simple and relevant question: How much did the panels cost; how long before they have paid for themselves and the taxpayers start realizing this $15,000 annual savings? Read more…
Hennepin County Funds Sex Ed Teachers in Richfield and Brooklyn Center Public Schools
Since my first day on the Hennepin County Board, I’ve been hearing regularly about how the county has cut the fat out of government and is now cutting into bone; that the Governor has decimated county aid to such an extent that we can no longer adequately provide even some of the basic functions of county government.
The problem with that assertion, of course, is the same problem that exists when the argument is used about government budgets at nearly every level: If decision-makers would learn to prioritize and spend less money on those things that are NOT basic functions of government, it would be much easier to fund those things that ARE basic functions of government. Read more…
