District 4: Cloyd Robinson

Who would have thought that much of the leadership against a local-option sales tax extension for flood relief would come from flood-ravaged City Council District 4? But it did!

Why?

The short answer is that many of the victims felt that they were victimized twice - once by the flood and yet again by a system that loudly proclaimed it was there to help them.

The federal government, often through the state government, initially poured over a quarter-billion dollars into our community following the flood. The flood victims naturally expected help. Instead, many received repeated lectures that “you will not be made whole.”

Then the council's visioning process began - new community-owned hotel and convention center ($100 million-plus), new library ($50 million-plus), new road “projects” ($150 million-plus), new amphitheater ($8 million-plus), etc.

It got worse.

Many of the victims were told one thing, and then told the opposite. Hundreds of families were essentially bankrupted when the flood wall location changed from further from the river to closer to the river. Initially told they could not receive assistance because of their houses' locations, many were forced to move. Then the city began giving away some of those properties to real estate developers. This caused the value of homes in that area to plummet, leading to more distress.

Numerous local non-profit entities were created to handle money coming from the government. The council facilitated and encouraged their creation. There was a pipeline of money going from the federal government to the state government and then to the non-profit organizations.

Flood victims saw the new projects and some who were becoming rich off the disaster. The flood victims who were still here could not “fight city hall” because many local attorneys were being hired by the secretive non-profit organizations. Other attorneys were intimidated.

Then the push came for “flood protection.” But little went for what should have been the highest priority: effective flood protection on both sides of the river. And the money initially approved in 2009 had been spent only partly on relief for flood victims. Project after project siphoned the money away from the victims and true flood protection. What initially began as an effort to help victims of a natural disaster, quickly appeared to become a giant urban renewal project.

Pressure to pass the 20-year sales tax extension was applied to not just flood victims, but also businesses and voters. Many businesses gave huge amounts of money to the campaign. The first question of those behind the redevelopment ideas, more of a statement, was often along the lines of, “you are supporting this, so how do you want to express that support.”

In the rush for new sources of funds to backfill a city budget with what should have been priorities, traffic cameras were installed and discussions were started regarding appropriating the veterans' tax levy.

President John F. Kennedy stated that “We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

It is time to abandon secrecy. If elected, I will seek to represent the people and neighborhoods that have been pushed aside in the rush to profit from the flood.

Cloyd “Robby” Robinson, lifelong west-side resident of Cedar Rapids, and married to Shirlene Rimrodt for 56 years, is a Naval Reserve veteran, and has served as a union negotiator and Hawkeye Labor Council vice-president, state senator and vice-president of Iowans for Tax Relief. Comments: shellyrae@imonmail.com