Supervisors misspend our money on bridge

Regarding the Johnson County supervisors' vote to restore Sutliff Bridge: It appears that there are only two supervisors who have financial sense.

There is an opportunity for the county to obtain $1.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a choice of many different projects. Three of the supervisors have chosen to spend that money, not as part of the $5 million required for updating the Mahaffey Bridge, not on the widening of 120th Street to Shueyville, not on perhaps a new Homeless Shelter, but rather on pulling the remains of the Sutliff Bridge out of the Cedar River and resurrecting it as monument to Rod Sullivan's boyhood.

For those not familiar with the history, the county built a new bridge less than one-half mile north of the Sutliff Bridge not more than 10 years ago. That left pieces of the old bridge to decay until the 2008 flood pushed it into the river. Perhaps 100 people a year used the decrepit structure as a picnic site, withstanding the criticism of the bar owners when they didn't buy their beer in his establishment. (I have been part of a group who has been recipients of their criticism).

This decision is another example of how our elected representatives vote to spend money (federal money is still ours) without any regard for the taxpayers. When will we begin to stop this excessive waste?

Henry T. Madden

Iowa City