Yet another “oops” has occurred with our county government. That makes two within just the last week that were reported.
Yet another “oops” has occurred with our county government. That makes two within just the last week that were reported.
The first one dealt with a massive mistake on the county’s part two decades ago, concerning federal regulations when using federal money to build affordable housing. Turns out that someone within the county government failed to check both the plans and the regulations, when another unknown person changed the architectural drawings for the apartments. No one checked those plans, apparently, before approving them!
So we, the taxpayers, have to pay again to repair the mess, just like we have to pay for the county’s lack of foresight when drilling and maintaining water wells for and when our expensive buses (another current “oops”) go unrepaired, whether due to laziness/lack of training on the part of the mechanics or to lack of planning on how many skilled mechanics are needed to keep up with the repair load. It’s no wonder our governmental expenditures are so high!
Lack of oversight seems to be pretty much the norm in every department, except maybe for the Department of Public Works. Thanks to Ron Thiel and Neal Azevedo for doing their jobs so well, and for saving the taxpayers big bucks while getting the jobs done quickly and to the satisfaction of the taxpayers. (Sure, there are many roads that either need to be rebuilt, expanded, or repaired within the county, but money is short around here. And proper planning often takes years, instead of weeks.) Wish I could say the same about the rest of our county and state government departments. Efficiency, good planning, and oversight are apparently not on the list of requirements for many of those jobs.
Carol Buck is a resident of Waimea.