Same old tired arguments from Milquetoast Mark

Councilors are concerned, and for good reason;

“Fishy” is how one Sioux Falls city councilor described it. Another said it “looks funny.”

The councilors – Greg Jamison and Rex Rolfing – were joined by Councilor James Entenman on Tuesday in questioning city officials and their habit of moving money from one project to another. From February 2009 through October, officials transferred $40.7 million among projects in the city’s capital improvement plan, which outlines and prioritizes major city projects, according to the results of an internal audit that were released Tuesday to the city’s audit committee, of which Jamison, Rolfing and Entenman are members.

“It seems like a lot of shuffling of money,” Jamison said.

Seems? While I agree some shuffling must go on, one questions how the practice goes under the radar;

With regard to the shuffling, the audit suggested that officials should be allowed to transfer money from one project to another only after it’s completed. Transfers involving two unfinished projects should require council approval.

But Mark Cotter has an excuse for that;

Public Works Director Mark Cotter told the committee that officials are charged each year with juggling dozens of projects worth millions. The capital plan – which finances new roads, buildings, parks, sewers and more – has about a seven-month window to complete each year, given the weather. And officials, Cotter said, need the flexibility to move money from place to place as different projects get under way.

So within that seven-month window there is no time to call up the councilors and have a special vote on extra spending? I would think you could probably round most of them up in a 24-hour period to get them to approve spending. This tired old, “time is of the essence” argument that Munson used for Phillips to the Falls, is what it is, Bullshit.

We should build a methane energy plant right next door to city hall, of course, with council approval.