More assertiveness, debate welcome

By The Gazette Editorial Board

We're glad to see the Cedar Rapids City Council deal more assertively with our state and federal partners when it comes to important flood recovery issues.

Mayor Ron Corbett is trying to convince the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reconsider subtracting forgivable down payment loans, energy efficiency grants and other disaster assistance from buyout checks for flooded homeowners. HUD calls those payments duplication of benefits, but Corbett and a majority of council members insist the deductions are unfair. And they're willing to use local-option sales tax dollars to buy those homes if HUD fails to relent.

The drive to change HUD policy comes on the heels of the mayor and council's successful effort to get bigger buyouts for flooded homeowners, based on 107 percent of a home's pre-flood assessed value. Homeowners were originally told that they would receive 100 percent, even though several other communities were getting payments at higher rates.

In both of these cases, the mayor and council listened to concerns of flooded-out homeowners and took those concerns up the governmental ladder. Our city leaders advocated for residents, respectfully but forcefully.

“Elected officials have to take care of the people first,” Corbett said this week. “I think they want the council stepping up.”

It's likely going to take an even stronger effort to convince federal officials and Congress that the city should receive funding for a comprehensive flood protection system to protect Cedar Rapids from another epic surge.

Using mandated prediction models, the Army Corps of Engineers has ruled that a full system of levees and flood walls would be too costly based on projected flooding risks over the next 50 years.

Local leaders, sensing the negative impact that decision could have on rebuilding and reinvestment, are preparing evidence to show that the city's regional economic importance makes such protection system vital. The regional and state economy, Corbett and others argue, can't risk a repeat of 2008.

The case will must be made not only to the Corps but to Congress, which will make the final call on funding a protection system.

Our long post-flood partnerships with state and federal officials are entering crunchtime. And after being promised a more aggressive leadership style during last fall's mayoral campaign, there are signs that the newly configured council intends to deliver.

Certainly, there have been stumbles and false starts. But we think it's healthy when elected leaders share their ideas, take public positions on issues and take their lumps if those positions aren't embraced by the public. There's been plenty of wide-open public debate on big issues. That's a welcome development.