School Board Governance

School Board Members Must Speak Out
Nicholas Johnson
The Gazette, October 6, 2021, p. A6
Returning to my Iowa City home from Washington, confronting appeals of friends who were teachers, I agreed to run for school board, won, but promised only one term.

Later, I tried to recruit new school board members. It wasn’t easy.

Perhaps it was my candid sales pitch: “Well, you may not get any pay, but at least you’ll get a lot of grief.”

We spend less on K-12 than other countries, and our economy grows faster than education spending. But our federal, state and local governments budget $734 billion for it annually -- roughly the size of the defense budget.

Given the responsibilities of school board members it’s remarkable they have neither entrance requirements nor training.

But then neither do presidential appointees.

Maritime Administrator at 29, and lacking administrative experience, I asked Commerce Secretary Luther Hodges about training. There was none. I pleaded for at least some advice. He said all I needed to remember was to pee every chance I got.

Iowa City’s much beloved librarian, Lolly Eggers, served as my school board campaign treasurer, and provided, as befits a librarian, a book: John Carver, Boards That Make a Difference. She had found it useful with her board. So did we.

As Carver puts it, most advice for boards just teaches “how to do the wrong things better.”

Our superintendent was preparing the board’s agenda, complete with what motions should be made and when. As I said at the time, “We don’t have board meetings, we have superintendent meetings to which the board members are invited and have the best seats.” We changed that, redefining the roles of board members and superintendents. [Photo credit unknown, possibly Nicholas Johnson; from blog post, "The School Bored."]

The Cedar Rapids school board’s Board Governance Policies bear some similarity to what we did 23 years ago.

Where they differ in practice involves the role of elected officials and group decision making. We made clear individual board members did not speak for the board. But they did speak -- and listen.

As FCC commissioner I wrote some 400 dissenting opinions. As a school board member, I wrote a newspaper column every two weeks about K-12 education. Sometimes painful for my colleagues, my writing was nonetheless tolerated as part of the group decision-making process.

One reason democracies have multi-person legislative bodies, appellate courts, commissions – and school boards – is the assumption groups produce better decisions than authoritarian dictators. When group members are elected officials, they have an added obligation to express their views, communicate with and represent constituents, to be a voice for the voiceless, an ear for the unheard.

There is not a single challenge confronting Iowa’s school boards that has not been discovered, diagnosed, treated, and resolved by one of America’s 16,800 school boards, or the 19 countries that outscore the U.S. for quality of K-12 education.

School board members need to spend hours regularly studying the literature, reporting, speaking out and stimulating discussion. That, and many other tasks, are things that cannot properly be delegated to a superintendent and board chair.
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Nicholas Johnson is a former Iowa City school board member. See https://nicholasjohnson.org/governance Contact: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org

SOURCES
[School Board. My term ran from 1998 to 2001.]

[K-12 expenditures. Melanie Hanson, “U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics,” EducationData.org, Aug. 2, 2021, https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics]

[Defense Budget. “Budget Basics: National Defense,” Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Aug. 2, 2021, https://www.pgpf.org/budget-basics/budget-explainer-national-defense (“The United States spent $725 billion on national defense during fiscal year (FY) 2020 according to the Office of Management and Budget . . ..”)]

[Use of word “pee” in The Gazette; precedent. Adam Sullivan. 2021 headline: “Banning fake pee? In this economy?” The Gazette, Feb. 19, 2021, https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/banning-fake-pee-in-this-economy/ ]

[Lolly Eggers. Iowa City Public Library Librarian, served from 1975-95. “Iowa City Public Library celebrates legacy of Lolly Eggers, Former Library Director,” Press Release, Iowa City Public Library,” July 2, 2021, https://www.icpl.org/press-releases/iowa-city-public-library-celebrates-legacy-lolly-eggers-former-library-director]

[Carver. Doing the wrong things better. John Carver, “Remaking Governance,” American School Board Journal, March 2000, p. 26, http://nicholasjohnson.org/writing-2/asbjcarv.html]

[Cedar Rapids School Board governance. “Article 2 Board Governance and Operations,” Cedar Rapids Community School District Policies and Procedures,” https://crschools.us/series/200/]

[Group decision making. Tim Barnett, “Group Decision Making,” Encyclopedia of Management, Reference for Business, https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Gr-Int/Group-Decision-Making.html ]

[Number of school boards. Imed Bouchrika, “101 American School Statistics: 2020/2021 Data, Trends & Predictions,” Education, Research.com, June 10, 2020, https://research.com/education/american-school-statistics (“The U.S. is currently home to 16,800 school districts.”)]

[19 counties better than US education. “20 Best Education System in the World,” edsys, May 22, 2019, https://www.edsys.in/best-education-system-in-the-world/; Patricia Fioriello, “Top K-12 Education System in the World,” Critical Issues in Education, https://drpfconsults.com/top-k-12-education-system-in-the-world/ (“The top five K-12 education systems worldwide are as follows:” – the U.S. did not make the list)]

# # #

Joel Grubbe

JOEL GRUBBE
May 5, 1958-February 4, 2019
Memorial Gathering March 3, 2019 Note: Joel's mother, Mary Vasey, made substantial contributions to this post.

Joel Grubbe, of Iowa City and San Jose, Calif., died Feb. 4, 2019, at Mercy Iowa City Hospital Hospice.

He will be missed by family, friends and many care givers for his humor, perseverance and genuine concern for others.

He was uniquely gifted with numerous, wide-ranging interests. Even his musical choices ranged from Mozart and Beatles to punk and dark metal.

Joel was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 5, 1958, to Mary Vasey and Bill Grubbe. He traveled the country and lived in Colorado, Utah, Iowa (Cedar Rapids) and California. He worked at the Santa Clara Medical Center while living in San Jose, Calif., for 20 years. Following a serious brain injury in 2010, he returned with his cat, Mindy, to family in Iowa (Iowa City) and its university hospital.

He is survived by his mother, Mary Vasey and her dozens of cousins; stepfather, Nicholas Johnson and Nick's sister Kate; brothers, Jason Grubbe, Karl Grubbe and Karl's wife, Carol; nephew Alec Grubbe and niece, Claire Schuerman; aunt Dora Lee Larson and Donna Sims; uncle Dan Vasey and wife Greer (daughter Natasha Vasey Ellis and husband, Timothy Vasey-Ellis, and grandchildren Celeste, Sebastian, and Hugo; and son Gregory Alex-Vasey and wife, Effie Alex-Vasey). Joel's surviving stepsiblings are Julie Johnson (and daughters Laura and her husband Francisco, Sara, and grandchildren Nia, Adrian and Isaac); Sherman Johnson and wife Pati; Greg Johnson and wife Makur; and Alex Johnson Lavidge. Joel's much-beloved cat, Mindy, is also a survivor.

Joel was preceded in death by his father, Bill Grubbe, sister, Robin Grubbe, and uncle Steve Vasey.

There will be a celebration of Joel's life on March 3; details below.

In remembrance of Joel, the family suggests donations to Iowa City Hospice, Mercy Hospice Care Unit, Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa or your favorite charity.

[See two more pictures, plus comments from Karl Grubbe and Jason Grubbe, below.] _______________
Notes:

1. Memorial Gathering, Sunday, March 3, 2019, Uptown Bill's, 730 South Dubuque St., Iowa City, Iowa.
Uptown Bill’s was a place where Joel participated in support groups, enjoyed concerts, art activities, and trying exotic soda pop or Jason's famous milk shakes in the coffee house. Because Uptown Bill's was so important to Joel, as it is for many others, the family feels it is a good place to celebrate his life.

There will be a memorial service at 2:00 p.m.. Friends are also invited to drop by any time between 3:00 and 4:30 to spend time with friends and family and remember Joel.

Sunday parking is available across the street from Uptown Bill's in a University parking lot.

2. Mary Vasey prepared and submitted the obituary that appeared in The Gazette online and in the print edition February 8, 2019, p. A9. The version above is a slightly altered version of the one in The Gazette. The following week her shorter version appeared in the Iowa City Press-Citizen and is reproduced in Note 4, immediately below.

3. A tribute to Joel's father, Bill Grubbe, also appears in this blog: "In Memoriam: Bill Grubbe," October 3, 2006.

4. The Iowa City Press-Citizen Joel Grubbe obituary.

Joel Grubbe
Iowa City. Joel Grubbe died Feb. 4, 2019, at Mercy Iowa City Hospital Hospice.

He will be missed by family, friends and many care givers for his humor, perseverance and genuine concern for others.

Joel was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 5, 1958, to Mary Vasey and Bill Grubbe. He is survived by his mother, Mary Vasey, Stepfather, Nicholas Johnson and brothers Jason and Karl Grubbe.

For details email maryvasey@yahoo.com
_______________
Source: Joel Grubbe, Iowa City Press-Citizen online, Feb. 13, 2019 (click on "Read More"), with link to Legacy.com (which includes The Gazette obituary), and Press-Citizen print edition February 13, 2019, p. A2, .

_______________

# # #

Doing It Ourselves

Include People in Process

Nicholas Johnson

The Gazette, July 24, 2106, p. D3
I started life in a house on the former underground railroad, in an Iowa City with “northern racism” -- few black students and fewer professors, none of whom could find a barber to cut their hair, or a landlord to rent them an apartment.

I spent the 1950s in a Texas with “southern racism” – including the poll tax and other remnants of slavery those underground travelers escaped. I clerked for a federal court of appeals judge when civil rights decisions sparked burning crosses in judges’ yards.

Later, as a President Johnson appointee, I watched how he passed the Voting Rights Act, knowing it would hand the South to the Republicans.

And how, as a result of that act, the mud and gravel roads in southern black neighborhoods began to be paved. The number of southern black legislators increased from 5 to 313.

Those memories came back to me as I read that Cedar Rapids’ leaders had met regarding a sub-set of local gun violence that gets little public or media attention: young black gang members shooting each other.

Ultimately, those leaders created the Safe, Equitable and Thriving (SET) Communities Task Force.

Wisely, the members chose to focus, not merely upon the existence and consequences of these shootings, but upon their causes. They mentioned “poverty, social vulnerabilities, and other systemic hardships.”

Having done so, they realized their challenge is less about race relations (though that’s involved) than about the basic needs of all residents – a challenge confronting most American cities.

The usual approach lists things like jobs at livable wages, housing, transportation, and healthcare – noting their interrelationship. Three weeks ago this paper addressed the adverse effect on education from both inadequate housing (in an editorial) and insufficient transportation (in a column).

Perhaps our answer this time will be found, not alone in substance (like housing proposals) but in process. The Task Force might first find the problems by focusing on those most impacted by what Cedar Rapids lacks (for them), rather than those most benefited by what it has. It might focus more on listening to their stories, recording and reporting anecdotal evidence, than on cold data and multiple choice questions. [Photo credit: Unknown; interviewing people where they live may be more revealing than the multiple choice questionnaire results from those willing to attend meetings.]

What if identifying each individual’s problems came before those of the community, a search through the catalog of alternative solutions, pilot projects, and the difficult task of final implementation?

We might just find that, like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, we, too, have been “waiting for someone/to really discover America,” and that our democracy requires more than voting. It needs citizens who feel, and are, included in the identification as well as the resolution of our challenges.

Indeed, our leaders might wish to meditate upon Lao Tsu’s 2500-year-old observation that the goal of a good leader is that “When his work is done [the people] will say, ‘We did this ourselves.’”

Iowa City now has less “northern racism.” And Cedar Rapids can have less shooting by gang members. We can do it. But only when the people can say, “We did this ourselves.”
____________________
As a former FCC commissioner, Nicholas Johnson highlighted the role of media in race perceptions and relations and urged increased station ownership by women and minorities. Contact: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org.

# # #

Grassley's Health Care Solution & Cities' Lobbyists

July 3, 2009, 2:15 p.m.

Sen. Grassley Suggests Gov't Health Insurance (and Jobs) for All
Cedar Rapids Has to Hire Lobbyists to Get Help from Cong. Loebsack
(brought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Neither of those headings are literally true, but they're not all that far off the mark either.

Iowa's Senator Chuck Grassley got a little rattled at one of his Iowa "town meetings" the other day when pressed on the details of his own health insurance and why the questioner couldn't have equally good coverage. The Senator's final suggestion to his constituent was that he should just go work for the government.

Can't believe it? It's too delicious to be true? Watch for yourself:



See, Susan Crile, "Chuck Grassley: If You Want Good Health Insurance, Work For The Government," The Huffington Post, July 2, 2009.

Now the "public option" is one thing, and the proposals for "universal single-payer" (that most countries provide their citizens) is another, but for a Republican of Grassley's stature to suggest that the solution to America's health care problem is for every American to work for the government does seem a bit extreme.

In case you run into him and he's still confused about his own coverage you might want to refer him to the "Non-Postal Premium Rates for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program." Depending on the plan and coverage the monthly out-of-pocket for the Senator (or other federal employees) runs something between $84 and $300 a month. (The government pays two-thirds of the premium cost.)

Of course the salaries we pay our senators and members of Congress, and their health insurance benefits, are the least of it. (The pay is $174,000 a year; leaders get $193,400; after five years in office they're eligible for generous pensions.) See Robert Longley, "Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members," About.com.

When JFK was president the entire cost of the legislative branch was $192 million. The projections for 2008 were for $4.8 billion -- an increase twice the rate of population growth, and about three times the rate of inflation. Richard Rahn, "The Imperial Congress," Discovery Institute, Technology & Democracy Project, February 11, 2007.

For example, Legistorm lists 28 "past and present" staffers working for Loebsack -- and as a new Member that's a much smaller number than for those with seniority, who may also have access to the staff working for the committees on which they serve. Senators, of course, have multiples more. The staff payroll for Congressman Loebsack's office, October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008, was $913,436. "Rep. David Loebsack," Legistorm.

Moreover, as that Web site says, "Note that the salary index for a given time period does not necessarily reflect exactly who is on staff at the present time. Also, aides for any relevant committees, leadership offices, campaign committees and leadership PACs will not be included here, nor do we have data for unpaid staff such as interns or people who are 'detailed' from the GAO, executive branch or private sector."

I have no way of knowing the full range of benefits beyond these or their cost to the taxpayers, such as the "franking privilege" (free postage), and possibly travel allowances, and housing allowances -- and of course the hospitality of lobbyists.

Rahn, whose piece is linked, above, suggests that the total cost for a Member of Congress is $3.1 million, and for a Senator, $9 million.

Why am I laying out all these numbers? It's not because I necessarily begrudge our federal elected officials their pay and perks.

It's because I question why, given Congress' $4.6 billion in resources, a city needs to go out and hire a lobbyist to represent its interests in Washington!

Although I can't find it online at the moment, Iowa Public Radio reported this morning on a conflict in Cedar Rapids over the City's paying a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm to represent it -- something the City Manager wants to do. (IPR's latest postings in its online "Newsroom" don't reference the story.) So all I can link to is The Gazette's reporter, Adam Belz' report April 30 that, "The Cedar Rapids City Council . . . is preparing for a request for proposal process to hire a lobbyist beyond [July]." Adam Belz, "Supervisors Break With Federal Lobbyists," The Hot Beat, April 30, 2009.

Goodness knows, I'm aware of how complicated dealing with the federal government can be. But in the 21st Century that's a part of the job of a City Manager; and if he or she doesn't have the personal experience, knowledge or confidence then someone on their staff.

It is also the job of our elected officials to help our cities deal with the Washington bureaucracy. They are there, in Washington. They have staff who deal with federal agencies everyday on behalf of constituents. If they don't have a personal contact in the relevant agency they know how to go about getting information out of them anyway. They have access to the Congressional Reference Service. If they can't help one of the cities in their District who can they help?

Much of the work of lobbyists on behalf of their corporate clients is to make presentations to the elected officials and their staff members. But when a city has its own Member of Congress it shouldn't need a lobbyist to make that contact.

Moreover, these Washington lobbyists aren't cheap -- $10,000 a month is not at all uncommon. But just how much help are you going to get for, say, $150,000 a year from a firm that bills out its time at, say, $300-to-$1000 an hour and more?

Bear in mind, I'm not talking about local delegations going to Washington -- to call on Congressman Loebsack and agency personnel. That's another matter, and often quite effective (based on my experience as Maritime Administrator and FCC commissioner). It may be a junket for some; perhaps they could have stayed in a cheaper hotel and not flown first class. But the costs are nothing compared to the prices charged by Washington lobbying firms.

I can be persuaded I'm wrong -- on this or any other issue. But my instinct is that once you've paid the people whose job it is -- whether a corporate CEO, a university president, a Member of Congress, or a City Manager -- you shouldn't have to pay someone else to do their job.
______________

* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source, even if I have to embed it myself. -- Nicholas Johnson

# # #

Satisfactions of Lively Learning

November 23, 2008, 9:15 a.m.

In Praise of Alternative Education
I learned something of "alternative education" while serving as a school board member and K-12 education newspaper columnist for three years -- but mostly as the husband of someone who has played a national role, helped create and taught at one for 25 years in Cedar Rapids, and then helped plan one for Iowa City ("Tate") where she continues to volunteer after having retired from the Cedar Rapids' payroll.

This morning's Gazette contains an op ed column of hers that you, too, may find both moving and informative regarding alternative education. I've reproduced it, below.

"Alternative education" has no universally agreed upon definition. Here's are some excerpts from a column I wrote in 2001 regarding why we needed an alternative high school in Iowa City (since provided) that give a sense of my own definition:

“Alternative,” or “non-traditional,” just tells us what the school is not.

And since “traditional” also evades precision it doesn’t even tell us that. . . .

In one sense, every high school student is a unique blend of experiences, abilities, interests, needs, goals and ways of learning – an “alternative.” . . . .

[W]ith 1500 students in each of our high schools . . . most students survive four years in traditional high schools. Many thrive. They work at their studies and aspire to college. They demonstrate ability in organized athletic, music or other activities; they have supportive homes and friendships. They are the examples we cite as evidence of the quality of our schools.

Unfortunately, there are others who not only don’t thrive, they don’t even survive.

They drop out, either literally or figuratively. Some are among our brightest and most talented. Others are not.

Some are the children of upper socioeconomic parents. Others have no parents, or abusive parents. Some are parents. Some may be the target of school bullies, or simply shunned as loners.

They may never have read Paul Goodman’s Growing Up Absurd or Jonathan Kozol’s Death at an Early Age, but they could tell you the equivalent.

Look past the green spiked hair and pierced body parts. Listen to what these kids have to say. . . .

We sometimes confuse learning with deportment. But among our most creative and intellectually accomplished students are at least some of those who are not in their seats -- self-motivated learners bored with the lesson, those who ask embarrassing questions and organize student protests of irrational rules, the disruptive clowns who enliven the day. . . .

There is a subset of education’s many “alternatives” that is a sensitive, and successful, response to the opportunity these kids offer. These alternative high schools are what “alternative” means to me.

Cedar Rapids’ Metro High School is one. It’s been recognized twice by the President, and is visited by educators from as far away as Singapore and Latvia. . . .

Alternative schools have their own diplomas, their own buildings -- but they needn’t be elaborate. Metro started in an abandoned fire house.

Schools that are more manageable [mean that] with fewer students each can have . . . home visits by teachers – for students with homes. Each student is known by name and feels valued. There are fewer rigid rules about dress and hair style; fewer absences; and virtually no violence. Students want to be there. . . .

We [in Iowa City] lose track of our dropouts. Metros’ teachers [in Cedar Rapids] scour the malls, parks and bridges looking for theirs. . . .

Nicholas Johnson, "We Need Alternative High School," April 10, 2001, p. A9; and see Nicholas Johnson, "Learn From Alternative Schools," Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 22, 2001, p. A9 ("Alternative schools’ lower enrollments are central to their success. The buildings are more manageable for students and teachers. The Carnegie Task Force, Coalition of Essential Schools, National Association of Secondary School Principals, and former Secretary of Education Richard Riley agree. Most recommend high schools under 600.").

Coincidentally, after I wrote this I discovered in the Des Moines Register this morning an entire section largely devoted to how one country -- Finland -- has applied many of the qualities I associate with "alternative education" throughout its entire K-12 system -- something I was advocating for the U.S. in the 2001 column, "Learn From Alternative Schools," linked above. See, Linda Lantor Fandel, "An academic star: Finland's focus on education translates into top achievement," Des Moines Register, November 23, 2008, p. OP1 -- with links to the 15 or more additional stories on the subject in the special section. The section provides considerable insight into why our miserable comparisons with the educational results in other industrialized nations bears some relationship to our failure to apply the lessons from our alternative schools.

Mary succeeds in putting a human face on these comments about "alternative education," with her exploration of the brains and hearts that can make "no child left behind" a reality, rather than just a fight over text scores:

Why Involve At-Risk Students With Theater?

Mary Vasey

The Gazette, November 23, 2008, p. A10
Why do it? Why theater with so-called at-risk students?

Here, with fictional names, but real-life events, is a composite answer drawn from one teacher’s 25 years of experience.

Imagine you are working with alternative school students. You are putting together a play, a performance. There is no stage or auditorium in their building, so you arrange to have the performance in a local professional venue.

You take the bright, the tough, the sad, the turned off, the uncontrollably creative and find they are really interested in being in a play.

You find parts for 15 actors and you suffer through weeks of frustration. The drama in their lives sometimes gets in the way of the drama on the stage.

They complain about having to memorize so much and find fault with the script. Pete, the male lead, is sent to a detention center and you have to negotiate with the probation officer to let him stay after school to rehearse.

Jen and Al fall in love, then break up. They refuse to occupy the stage at the same time. The problem is that they are playing a loving brother and sister. Cindy calls Jen a “ho” and they come close to fighting.

The space for construction and painting of the set is shared with the bicycle shop so you have to move large flats out of the way every other day. The new lighting board hasn’t arrived, and it looks like the old one will have to do.

Two weeks before the play opens, they all have their lines memorized and the blocking down. It is beginning to look like a real production. One week later, they are stumbling over their lines and turning their backs on the audience.

Jen and Al fall in love again. Pete gets out of detention.

You bring wigs and costumes to rehearsal. They go crazy.

The boys dress up in girls clothing and wigs. They ask if they can take their bows in drag.

The stage is available the day before the performance.

You order pizza and hope they will all show up. They all do. The dress rehearsal is a disaster. Pete forgets two full pages of dialogue and they all freeze and just stare at one another.

The flats have just been painted and Al backs into one. Somebody eats the stale potato chips from the prop table, thereby ruining Jen’s potato chip scene.

The people who run the theater look worried. You vow never to do this again.

After the dress rehearsal, you hear the students planning to get together. You pray no one gets drunk, takes drugs or gets arrested.

You are sure someone will.

Instead, they gather at Jen’s house and practice.

The night of the performance they all show up. They look clear-eyed. They look excited. They look like kids.

Pete remembers his lines and delivers them as if they are second nature. The chips are crisp and available. The old lighting board works and the paint on the flats is dry and bright. It is better than anything you might have imagined.

The boys take their bows in drag and all the actors bask in the approval and attention of the audience. They laugh and hug and smell the roses somebody got them. The tough, the used, the abused, the worldly, the sad are transformed.

They are kids, teenagers.

They are silly, giggly and happy.

It is beautiful. They are beautiful.

They know how it feels to be young, innocent and proud and they deserve that feeling.

Years later, when you run into the actors, they tell you that their play was the highlight of their high school experience. They wonder if you can get a copy of the video for them.

And that is why we do it.
_______________
Mary Vasey of Iowa City was a teacher of language arts and theater and has been active locally and nationally in alternative education for more than 30 years, including 25-plus years at the Cedar Rapids School District’s award-winning alternative high school, Metro. She volunteers with the theater program at Tate High School in Iowa City.

# # #

Floods and Football

June 17, 2008, 8:20 a.m.

Links Without Comment
Floods. For the benefit of those of our friends around the country and world who have expressed concern about the welfare of Iowans in general and myself in particular, the local papers have done a good job of not only daily reporting, but providing archives of their coverage. Here is what the Press-Citizen calls "The Great Flood of '08," Iowa City Press-Citizen, as of June 17, 2008; The Gazette's gazetteonline.com main page is currently headed with "The Flood of 2008," which provides a comparable collection of links to its photos and stories; as does the Des Moines Register for the entire state, at least on its online opening page, "Floods of 2008: Latest News Updates, Videos and Photos," as of June 17. The City of Iowa City's site, "River Watch - Flood Updates; Advisories; Maps," is one of the better all-purpose sites for Iowa City.

(And our family? As a result of fortuitous circumstance, for which this generation can take no credit, both the family home, and son Gregory's "small house," are at an elevation well above the flood plain.)

Football. Months ago I wrote about the University's handling of a matter allegedly involving one or more football team members. Therefore, for the record, here -- though without further comment -- is a link to a rather thorough update. Lee Hermiston and Brian Morelli, "Documents detail sexual assault case; Judge orders release of court records," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 17, 2008, p. A1.

# # #

Greenbelts, Greenways and Flood Prevention

June 16, 2008, 10:20 a.m.

Flood Prevention with Greenbelts
Now that the flood waters appear to be receding, we, like the River itself, are going through a number of stages. At some point there will be a time for reflection, looking to the future, and proactive planning.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross described what has come to be known as the "Five Stages of Grief," On Death and Dying (1969): denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

There are another kind of "stages" to a flood: "flood stage," "crest stage," and "receding stage."

But a variation on Kübler-Ross' stages of grief are also present.

There's the hope that what seems probable maybe won't happen. The initial shock that it is happening. The kumbaya stage of coming together, sand bagging, volunteers and heros. Then what Cedar Rapids is going through now, when hard-working, tired, public officials of good will, trying to provide for the safety of life and property, confront the frustrated citizens who want and need to get to their homes and are prevented from doing so. The stage of waiting, patience and frustration, and hardship that comes when the water is no longer rising each day, but it's not going away, either. The stage when the River finally returns to stay inside its banks, but what it has left in fields, neighborhoods and business districts remains. Finally, there is the clean-up stage when the elected officials, mass media, volunteers and kumbaya has long since vanished, leaving victims to fend for themselves with the muck and the bureaucracy of insurance companies, contractors, and FEMA.

But then comes the stage of reflection and proactive planning.

And when that time comes we need to think long and hard about Greenbelts, Greenways and the conservation bond issue on the ballot this November 4th.

See, Nicholas Johnson, "Preserving for Our Grandchildren," Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 20, 2008, p. A13, reproduced in Nicholas Johnson, "Greenbelts for Grandchildren," February 15 and 20, 2008; Nicholas Johnson, "GO Iowa! - The G-reat O-utdoors of Iowa," May 5, 2008, a reference to the Web site GO Iowa! at http://resourcesforlife.com/goiowa; and the bond support group, "Our Land, Our Water, Our Future," at http://landwaterfuture.org.

Even if we had never suffered the losses from flooding in the past, and would never have another flood in the future, we should promote the idea of a Greenbelt around the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Coridor, and Greenways and filters along Iowa's Rivers.

There are hundreds of ways of setting aside land for conservation besides purchase or gifts -- and no need to recite them all now. Uses such as golf courses and farming can continue -- along with forests, prairies and wetlands. The benefits include recreational uses, hunting and fishing, wildlife habitats, "smart growth" for urban areas, with increased real estate values.

But the values also include cleaner water, less soil erosion -- and reduced impact, or elimination of damage from, flooding.

Why is this? For starters, Greenbelts contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gases and our carbon footprint. But even those who don't believe we're getting climate changes from global warming can appreciate the reduction in water runoff.

The streets of suburbia, and parking lots of shopping malls, don't absorb much rainfall. Forests, prairies and wetlands do. Planting the right "filters" along rivers can slow runoff, prevent erosion of our farm land, and minimize flash floods and rapid rise in our rivers.

Are Greenbelts the total answer to flooding? Of course not. But they are a major part of the answer.

There are plenty of reasons to support Greenbelts and Greenways besides flood control. But while we're trying to figure out how we're going to pay for recovery from our recent multi-billion-dollar losses in Iowa from flooded rivers, we might want to start thinking about that $20 million bond issue as a mighty small down payment toward reducing losses like that in the years to come.

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Economics of Community Attractions: What Works

February 27, 2008, 9:15 a.m.

Now that the ill-conceived and executed indoor Iowa rain forest is behind us (hopefully forever), see Nicholas Johnson, "Iowa Child/Earthpark," we have no excuse for not having learned "what works" in the economics of community attractions.

We can learn from what hasn't worked (the rain forest project), and from what has, spelled out in Josh Hinkle's report last evening [Feb. 26] during KCRG-TV9's newscast:

"The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library is now seeking a new design concept for the expansion project it announced Tuesday. After opening 12 years ago, the museum saw about 16,000 visitors that first year. Now, it sees more than 32,000 annually.

President and CEO Gail Naughton says,"Our attendance has doubled. Our collections have more than doubled, and we're running out of space."

. . .

Officials completed this $2.5-million building with no debt. That’s what Naughton also wants with the expansion. A capital campaign will begin later this year.

. . .

She says breaking ground on the expansion project could still be two years away. There will be a series of conversations with the public, the first of which will take place at the museum at 5:30 on March 18."

Josh Hinkle, "Czech & Slovak Museum Announces Major Expansion," KCRG-TV9, Cedar Rapids, February 26, 2008 (link to video of Hinkle's piece from this Web page; photo, above, from Web page, credit: KCRG-TV9).

I addressed the general principles in Nicholas Johnson, "Time to Learn from What Works," Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 20, 2006, reproduced in Nicholas Johnson, "Earthpark's Week-Long Wake," November 26-December 7, 2007.

I won't repeat here all of that analysis and its applicability to the Czech & Slovak Museum expansion project. If you're interested you can read and think about it yourself. But these headings from the categories of qualities of successful ventures that were mentioned in that op ed column will provide some insight: "Focus," "Community-Based," "Logical Location," "Up-Front Financing," "Business Plans," "Cost Overruns," "Revenue Streams," and "Realistic Evaluation."

Clearly the Museum has a "Focus," it's a "bottom up," locally-supported "Community-Based" institution (complete with "a series of conversations with the public"), in the right city ("Logical Location").

Will the Museum be able to raise the money ("Up-Front Financing") and stay debt-free? Is it realistic to plan on the attendance continuing to increase as it has (from 16,000 a year to 32,000; "Business Plans" and "Realistic Evaluation")?

I'm not suggesting for a moment that the Museum's expansion will be a "slam dunk" with guaranteed economic success. What I do suggest is that it is as much of a positive model as the rain forest was a negative model. Both enable us, and the civic boosters in towns and cities all across Iowa (and the country), to come a little closer to knowing "what works" in the design and execution of local attractions that make as much sense economically as they do educationally or as entertainment.

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