Culver's Consolation Prize

So former Gov. Chet Culver didn't win a second term. But it sounds like he will get his name on a new Linn County building.

Hey, that's better than nothing, huh? Sure it is!

I went to the Linn County Board of Supervisors meeting this morning thinking the proposal for putting Culver's name on the new "Community Services Building of Linn County" might stir a little debate. Culver's I-JOBS initiative, which provided $5 million for the $16 million building and many other local post-flood projects, was controversial.

Maybe, just maybe, the two Republicans on the board, Brent Oleson and John Harris, would balk just a little. At least enough to make it interesting.

I was wrong. It was a bipartisan slam dunk with love-fest sauce.

"I think this is a great idea," Oleson said. "Whether you agree or don't with I-JOBS, the governor made it the centerpiece of his administration. He went all in for Cedar Rapids and Linn County."

Harris, who was mayor of Palo, recounted his post-flood dealings with Culver. "You could see the dedication that Gov. Culver had and the empathy he had for us," Harris said.

Supervisor Ben Rogers, a Democrat, proposed the idea. Fellow Democrat, Supervisor Lu Barron, "wholeheartedly" supports it. Supervisor Linda Langston was absent, but I doubt she's going to object. That's 5-0, for those of you scoring at home. A formal vote is set for Wednesday.

So Culver is going to get his name in stone or steel whatever medium they use. Although his name will be on it, Supervisors said the building still will be called the Community Services Building of Linn County, or CSB.

I think it should be the Beneficial Institutions for Growth at Linn Universal Government Building - or BIGLUG. Too much?

And the only snarky dig during Monday's discussion came at the expense of our current governor. "There aren't any executive orders are there that would prohibit us from naming it after (Culver)?" Oleson joked, a reference to Gov. Terry Branstad's order barring the use of a project labor agreement at the city's convention complex project.

Careful, Branstad has a couple of days before the board votes.  

Actually, there was a bill filed at the Statehouse earlier this year that would have required the dismantling of all signage at projects that credited I-JOBS and Culver's administration. The bill failed to clear a legislative funnel deadline.