Column - The City's Not Big Enough for the Both of Them

The Cedar Rapids mayor's race reminds me of one of those cop movies, with the partners who can't get along.

You've got City Council member Brian Fagan, the ambitious, no-nonsense guy who plays it straight and by the book. Without the rules, the process, the system, there would be chaos in the streets. He never mixes policy with operations.

Then you've got Ron Corbett, who vows to get results even if it means tossing out the book and dumping the process. He can't wait for the system to work. He's crossing the policy-operations border and you can't stop him.

Fate has thrown them together. And this city isn't big enough for the both of them. Imagine the crackling dialogue.

“I got a call from a ticked-off guy who says the city's gonna cut down some nice trees,” Corbett says. “I'm on it.”

“Hold on, renegade,” Fagan says. “Clearly, this is operations, not policymaking. You should refer him to the sub deputy director of botany affairs. We can't get involved. You're crossing the line. Read the charter!”

“You read the charter. I'm gonna rattle some bureaucrat's cage,” Corbett retorts. “I'm breaking the huddle and I'm calling an audible. Try to keep up, Deputy Delay.”

“You have no bench marks. You have no organizational framework. You have no process for public engagement,” Fagan says. “It's failure city, dead ahead, professional politician.”

(P.T. Larson plays a desk sergeant passed over for promotion again and again who delivers timely nuggets of wisdom.)

Clearly, Corbett and Fagan would be very different mayors. Fagan's experience has led him to embrace City Manager Jim Prosser's methodical, process-centric style of government, with a council that sets a direction and stays out of the way. Respect the process and good things will happen, slowly, but surely.

Fagan says when he gets a call from a constituent, he fights the urge to call city staff on his or her behalf. Instead, he tells them who to contact. To do otherwise would be meddling in operations.

Corbett is betting voters are process-weary. So he's selling an old-school, hands-on, call-me-and-I'll-see-what-I-can-do model. He sees meddling in operations as part of the mayor's job.

Fagan needs to better understand voters' desire for elected officials to be their advocates, not just policymakers and option-pickers. And Corbett needs to understand how frustrated he's going to be if he wins and tries to assert his will on a system that doesn't give him much power.

It's fascinating drama. I can't wait to see how it ends.

Contact the writer at (319) 398-8452 or todd.dorman@gazcomm.com