Gov. Douglas and Tom Evslin (Vermont's chief recovery officer)have decided to shun the Federal Recovery signs that Sen. Judd Gregg earlier sought national legislation to ban. “Axe the Stimulus Plaques” Gregg said and declared them "Simply for political self interest “. He introduced a bill in the senate “that would have prohibited the use of stimulus funds for signs that say a project is being carried out using those funds.”
It seems Vermont will as Gregg desired forego the signage. The savings are small in context and the symbolism high. Vermont's Recovery Officer says
“here in Vermont we decided that we’d rather spend the stimulus highway dollars on roads than signs. We have lots of projects but we don’t have signs. Once I explain almost everyone agrees with this decision.”
For me this begs the question, would Jim Douglas stop his trademark aggressive ribbon cutting habits if it would save a few thousand dollars?
Obama’s Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood(R) says of the signage "Signs tell a story, and the story being told is hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent to rebuild roads, resurface roads, resurface bridges,".
I agree we should proudly display what our tax dollars are doing for us.
The new Federal Recovery logo and sign compare favorably to the Blue Eagle of the depression era National Recovery Act. It is a visible symbol of what good government can do on a practical local level .The signs were to be posted for transparency and so the people that drive the roads know how and where their tax stimulus dollars are being used .They were to be the visible symbol of America back on the move. Florida, Texas and Virginia have not put up the stimulus signs.
Tom Evslin Vermont's chief recovery officer claims the signs cost $1500 each and you need at least two for each project. The exact form for the sign and the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) logo are spelled out in federal guidelines along with a”recommendation” that the signs be displayed. The Federal Highway Administration designed the recovery act signs in two sizes. Given the scope of the projects overall and the small savings in this seems petty. It has been reported that the cost of the signs can vary depending on size some running as much as the New York state behemoth of 84 square feet(about the same as three sheets of plywood )and costing $6,000 to $8,000 each to the diminutive and reasonably priced Illinois sign at about 45.5 square feet and costing $300.00.
Other Signs
Criticism of Vermont stimulus transparency from Vermont's Times Argus newspaper about two weeks ago .
Philip Mattera, lead author of "Show Us the Stimulus: An Evaluation of State Government Recovery Act Web Sites. said " Vermont does a serviceable job of explaining in what government sectors the recovery money is being spent. What the Web site does not do, he says, is offer a geographical breakdown of where in the state that money is being spent.
"And that would be useful to know, so people can know how available money is distributed in different parts of the state," he says. "And there's no information up there about specific projects that are being planned with the money."
No comments:
Post a Comment