3 ms·

Residents of Colorado Springs undertook a radical experiment in government

36 points by molecule 9y ago

dagenleg 9y ago
While the article was kind of inconclusive, I found the pictures of 'notable people' inside quite amusing. I guess 'a guy in a business suit standing on the side of the road' is a good image for small town mayor.
- sqeaky 9y ago
  How could it be conclusive? It is really hard to make objective declarations when messy things, like people, are involved.
lotsoflumens 9y ago
A good read despite the ridiculous headline. Colorado is an amazing place. The article quotes a journalist: >> “This town is so easily scammed,” says John Hazlehurst, himself a former councilmember and now a columnist with the Colorado Springs Business Journal. “Why? Because we’re hicks. It’s really that simple.” No, I don't think that's fair. The people are nice, that's all.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  >No, I don't think that's fair. The people are nice, that's all. A statement that will offend voters in CA may not offend voters in CO. Getting in a public debate about the politically correct way to address any given group is typically frowned upon by voters not within a 2hr drive of the ocean (or gulf). Edit: Politicians in CA should probably say this.
- sqeaky 9y ago
  Being nice doesn't mean you need to be vulnerable. Being uneducated or otherwise deficient is how you become vulnerable. That council members choice of words was a self portrayal and a critical one at that. Honest and hard self-critique is incredibly valuable and likely earned that person a few votes.
mikestew 9y ago
It makes for a rare look into what happens when you finally elect the "just run government like a business" candidate. Whoops, turns out there's a reason we have different words for those two things. OTOH, that hospital deal, man, someone on the city council better have been getting some kickbacks if only to excuse such poor negotiating.
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  The politicians spend other people's money poorly so the people elect a businessman to stop spending money. The businessman stops spending most of the money but what he has he spends poorly. The people elect a politician who now only has the small amount of money left by the businessman and is forced to spend it wisely. I think that is a resounding success.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - mikestew 9y ago
    The problem is that the populous cannot elect the "run it like a business" candidate twice. Your analysis says it was a success (and I'm not disagreeing), but they needed a different kind of candidate to come in and clean up. So though it might work once in a while, you couldn't make a "run it like a business" party/platform with any degree of success.
  - sqeaky 9y ago
    I am not sure if you are being astounded or astoundingly cynical. I do not think this kind of success is repeatable. I also not convinced this wouldn't have been better with the last politician in the first place. I see no reason the last guy couldn't have shrunk budgets and spent what remained wisely.
- NeutronBoy 9y ago
  There's almost two conclusions from the article: - running government more like a business isn't necessarily a bad thing, and - a ruthless business-man isn't necessarily the best suited person to do it
Overtonwindow 9y ago
Usually I down-vote political articles on HN but this one I like. It's balanced, good analysis, and really discusses government theory and management, as opposed to the usual partisan stuff we see.
MrZongle2 9y ago
Colorado Springs resident here. I think the article provided a pretty fair assessment of things, considering it addressed how [previous Mayor] Bach identified bad deals such as the Memorial Hospital deal and the power plant scrubber. This town's leadership in general has been dysfunctional for a long time; Bach wasn't the cure-all that many had hoped he would be. Couple of additional thoughts: Regarding the (new) Mayor's success in getting $250M for roads: what isn't mentioned is that the roads in this town are abysmal. When I lived in Northern Virginia many moons ago, I joked that I could always tell when I drove into DC by the effect on my car's handling. Having just come back from a vacation to that area, I can affirm that Colorado Springs has surpassed DC in this respect. The neglect of the roads was another petulant move by the City towards voters, just like the streetlights. Secondly, despite so often being painted as an arch-conservative western extension to the bible belt, Colorado Springs is a pretty tolerant, open-minded city. I'd suggest checking out the /r/ColoradoSprings section on Reddit, especially where people ask about how LGBT-friendly, etc the place is, and read the answers from some of the other locals. It isn't the town out of "Footloose".
vacri 9y ago
How bizarre that this article is flagged.

36 points by molecule 9y ago

While the article was kind of inconclusive, I found the pictures of 'notable people' inside quite amusing. I guess 'a guy in a business suit standing on the side of the road' is a good image for small town mayor.

sqeaky 9y ago
How could it be conclusive? It is really hard to make objective declarations when messy things, like people, are involved.

lotsoflumens 9y ago

A good read despite the ridiculous headline. Colorado is an amazing place. The article quotes a journalist: >> “This town is so easily scammed,” says John Hazlehurst, himself a former councilmember and now a columnist with the Colorado Springs Business Journal. “Why? Because we’re hicks. It’s really that simple.” No, I don't think that's fair. The people are nice, that's all.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
>No, I don't think that's fair. The people are nice, that's all. A statement that will offend voters in CA may not offend voters in CO. Getting in a public debate about the politically correct way to address any given group is typically frowned upon by voters not within a 2hr drive of the ocean (or gulf). Edit: Politicians in CA should probably say this.
sqeaky 9y ago
Being nice doesn't mean you need to be vulnerable. Being uneducated or otherwise deficient is how you become vulnerable. That council members choice of words was a self portrayal and a critical one at that. Honest and hard self-critique is incredibly valuable and likely earned that person a few votes.

mikestew 9y ago

It makes for a rare look into what happens when you finally elect the "just run government like a business" candidate. Whoops, turns out there's a reason we have different words for those two things. OTOH, that hospital deal, man, someone on the city council better have been getting some kickbacks if only to excuse such poor negotiating.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
The politicians spend other people's money poorly so the people elect a businessman to stop spending money. The businessman stops spending most of the money but what he has he spends poorly. The people elect a politician who now only has the small amount of money left by the businessman and is forced to spend it wisely. I think that is a resounding success.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- mikestew 9y ago
  The problem is that the populous cannot elect the "run it like a business" candidate twice. Your analysis says it was a success (and I'm not disagreeing), but they needed a different kind of candidate to come in and clean up. So though it might work once in a while, you couldn't make a "run it like a business" party/platform with any degree of success.
- sqeaky 9y ago
  I am not sure if you are being astounded or astoundingly cynical. I do not think this kind of success is repeatable. I also not convinced this wouldn't have been better with the last politician in the first place. I see no reason the last guy couldn't have shrunk budgets and spent what remained wisely.
NeutronBoy 9y ago
There's almost two conclusions from the article: - running government more like a business isn't necessarily a bad thing, and - a ruthless business-man isn't necessarily the best suited person to do it

Overtonwindow 9y ago

Usually I down-vote political articles on HN but this one I like. It's balanced, good analysis, and really discusses government theory and management, as opposed to the usual partisan stuff we see.

MrZongle2 9y ago

Colorado Springs resident here. I think the article provided a pretty fair assessment of things, considering it addressed how [previous Mayor] Bach identified bad deals such as the Memorial Hospital deal and the power plant scrubber. This town's leadership in general has been dysfunctional for a long time; Bach wasn't the cure-all that many had hoped he would be. Couple of additional thoughts: Regarding the (new) Mayor's success in getting $250M for roads: what isn't mentioned is that the roads in this town are abysmal. When I lived in Northern Virginia many moons ago, I joked that I could always tell when I drove into DC by the effect on my car's handling. Having just come back from a vacation to that area, I can affirm that Colorado Springs has surpassed DC in this respect. The neglect of the roads was another petulant move by the City towards voters, just like the streetlights. Secondly, despite so often being painted as an arch-conservative western extension to the bible belt, Colorado Springs is a pretty tolerant, open-minded city. I'd suggest checking out the /r/ColoradoSprings section on Reddit, especially where people ask about how LGBT-friendly, etc the place is, and read the answers from some of the other locals. It isn't the town out of "Footloose".

vacri 9y ago

How bizarre that this article is flagged.