Stanley Heading to County with Massive Projected Financial Shortfalls

As previously discussed, St. Louis’ top planner Rollin Stanley is leaving his post with the city and heading to Montgomery County, Maryland.  Presumably his position is not one of the ones being frozen due to a looming financial crisis.  From yesterday’s Washington Post:

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) announced a freeze yesterday on hiring in the 9,400-person workforce under his jurisdiction, stepping up efforts to close the county’s record $401 million projected shortfall for fiscal 2009.

Leggett’s chief administrative officer, Timothy Firestine, said the county would make exceptions in hiring for public safety jobs, bus drivers and other essential positions for at least the next five months.

The hiring freeze underscores the gloomy outlook for the county’s finances and comes as Leggett has recommended $23.6 million in midyear trims to social services, bus service and overtime for the police and fire departments. The announcement follows Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast’s decision to impose a freeze on spending and most hiring. (full story)

Ouch, and I thought we had it bad.   Although the low-density county has nearly three times the population and over eight times as much land area as St. Louis, their financial situation makes St. Louis seem far more fiscally stable than we are.

Still, if Stanley is given the freedom to actually do some good planning in the county (unlike here where he was kept on a short leash) then it will be a good move for him.

Accidents in Construction Zones Can Be Worse Than Alternate Routes

As a section of highway 40 (aka I-64) is completely shut down in St. Louis I am in Oklahoma City visiting with family and here a section of highway, known as the Broadway Extension (technically I-235 but nobody calls it that), heading north from downtown to the affluent suburb of Edmond is under reconstruction.  A good analogy to Edmond would be Chesterfield, although they’ve not built any shopping centers in an area that was under water less than a decade ago.  Back to the highway, a section that only has two lanes in each direction is getting a third (maybe 4th) lane as well as getting an awkward curve taken out and an improved interchange (@ NW 36th, see map).

Like so many projects in St. Louis this one in OKC is taking a while as they are leaving the existing lanes open where possible, closing only ‘as needed.’  The shoulders are gone as they keep the lanes open but squeeze them onto less pavement to allow for the construction work to take place.

Yesterday morning my brother and I are heading toward downtown and traffic comes to a stop long before this construction zone.  Both lanes are solid cars and a fire truck is coming up the shoulder at this part.  Again, as you get toward the construction zone the shoulder goes away.   So then we are all trying to squeeze into the right lane so the fire truck can get by on the left lane.

After about 10 minutes or so we finally get to the issue — a Chevy Suburban SUV had rolled over in the narrow construction zone.  They had it loaded on a flatbed at a crew were in one of the only two lanes cleaning up glass.   All traffic was having to condense from two narrow lanes to a single lane as motorists took their time looking at the wrecked vehicle.  Just a hundred feet or so later the roadway opened up and we were back up to highway speeds on the 3 lanes that were headed south.

So what does all this mean?  Well, those in St. Louis that are still fighting to now re-open highway 40 before the bridges are taken down talk about safety as an issue.  Yet, the safety of having many still doing their commute through the construction zone doesn’t seem to register.  Just as accidents will happen on alternate routes, they would most certainly happen in the construction zone.  The workers on the highway, with it closed, are certainly much safer than keeping a lane or two open.

While I continue to question the need for such an extensive and costly rebuilding of highway 40, I certainly support the closing of that part being rebuilt.   Accidents and delays can become so much worse in a construction zone as opposed to an alternate route.

I’m Paying More for Electricity and Loving It.

Initially I was a little apprehensive about buying an all-electric loft. I was so used to furnaces and hot water tanks being heated by gas. Also, I had never had a place with an electric range — all had been gas. Another concern was the cost, although with natural gas rates increasing, that was less of a concern.

Last week I received my first full 30-day electric bill, $37.74. The period was for 11/20 to 12/20 so it included Thanksgiving when I had friends over and we were using the oven and burners quite a bit.

Here is the breakout of the bill, most likely it looks a bit different than yours:

• Actual power: 407 kWh, $30.12
• St. Louis City Municipal Charge, $1.26
• “PURE POWER”, $6.11
• St. Louis City Municipal Charge, $0.25

Let’s start from the top and work our way down. The actual use is pretty straightforward. By keeping lights off, using efficient lighting in places, and air drying clothing has made a big difference. I even turned off the light for the ice/water in the door on the freezer. The fact the heat has not been on at all makes a huge difference. Don’t worry, I’m not sitting in the dark freezing, my place manages to stay a comfy 71º-72º without any heat.

My place, at 1,576sf, is in the middle of most lofts and bigger than the house I grew up in but nearly 1,000sf smaller than what I just moved out of. I have only 30ft of exterior wall — mostly inefficient brick and large (but insulated) windows. Thus, the units around me help insulate my place to the elements. Hopefully this theory will still apply next summer, although I’m certain I will ‘need’ to run the A/C then.

Next we have the $1.26 for the “St. Louis City Muni Chg.” Is this is a tax? If it were a tax I presume it would say it was a tax, but it says a charge instead. I’m not certain how this is calculated and if the money goes into the city’s general revenues or a special fund, anyone know?

This brings us to $6.11 for “PURE POWER.” From AmerenUE’s Pure Power homepage:

By choosing to enroll in Pure Power, you agree to pay just a penny and a half more per kilowatthour to support clean energy. AmerenUE then purchases Green-e Certified® renewable energy certificates (RECs) from new regional wind and other renewable energy facilities equal to your electric demand. Green-e certification guarantees that electricity from these renewable resources is delivered to the Midwest power pool. Electricity produced by renewables helps offset the generation of electricity from other, non-renewable sources.

Pure Power allows you to have a positive environmental and economic impact in the region. The average residential customer who enrolls for a year will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 19,500 pounds―the same carbon reduction provided by about 7 acres of forest for a year or not driving a car for almost 2 years.

Sweet! To me this is a small price to pay. Of course, if my bill were a lot higher I may not feel the same. By keeping my energy use low, I can continue to afford these renewable credits. The more of you that do this, the more facilities such as wind farms we will see.  I should note that I have no relationship with Ameren other than as a customer.

And now for that last quarter. Another “charge” from the city. Now, I don’t mind the quarter because it is, well, only a quarter. But how much does the city get from a tax/charge on these renewable credits that the public is voluntarily subjecting themselves to? This, of course, depends upon how many customers voluntarily decide to join the Pure Power program. Here is an example where I’d like to see some earmarking: this revenue should go into a fund to help the city reduce its own energy consumption by updating equipment in municipal buildings, adding a green roof on the courthouse, installing solar panels and/or a wind turbine to city hall, etc. The city can’t do it alone but this small “charge” might a significant fund.