In a word, YES!
By Mike Thayer
This is another 'Things that make you go hmmmmm.....' moment.
The last time the city of Coralville put a multi-million dollar project up for a vote, it was the library expansion in 2005.
Cost: $3 million.
Prior to that, it was the Coralville Pool project in 2002.
Cost: $2 million.
In the here and now....
Performance Arts Theatre - $11.2 million, residents didn't get a say, no vote.
Von Maur move from Sycamore Mall to the Iowa River Landing - $10+ million, residents didn't get a say, no vote.
Backpocket Brewery - $6 million (pending), no voter referendum. A public hearing is scheduled for November 22, but that's just window dressing. Members of the council have already made up their minds, it's a done deal.
Note that the library and the pool projects combined amount to less than any of the recent City of Coralville pet projects. Why did a $3 million project in 2005 and a $2 million project in 2002 go up for a vote, but the much more expensive projects of today do not?
TIF projects such as the *city owned* Hotel, the Coral Galleria, the Iowa River Landing, are also multi-million, greatly exceeding the costs of the library or the pool, but are stories for another day.
Related stories, doing what the local corporate media won't do, tying stories together:
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