The Department of You Get What You Pay For

In an effort to save the taxpayer some money the Des Moines City Council in its infinite wisdom "privatized" the groundskeeping duties of the city parks to one A + Lawn and Landscape. Reports Jason Pulliam in the May 30, 2009 edition of The Des Moines Register:

City officials say lackluster groundskeeping over the Memorial Day weekend will prompt them to issue refunds to people who rented shelters at a south-side Des Moines park.

The City Council earlier this year voted unanimously to privatize mowing and custodial services at 73 public parks as part of a larger plan to save taxpayers about $3.3 million a year. But the appearance of Ewing Park, 5300 Indianola Ave., and some others has not measured up.

The privatization of mowing and custodial services was a key piece of a plan to save taxpayer money and help address a tight city budget. Parks department personnel made up the bulk of 88 employees who lost their jobs to help fill a roughly $7.5 million hole in the 2009-10 budget. Some of the employees were rehired after the parks department restructured.

Said moronic Better Business Bureau chief and Des Moines city councilmember-at-large, Chris Coleman: "It can be frustrating, but I haven't heard any complaints, and I'm not going to overreact and say this is some way related to the privatization[.]"

Yeah, right, Chris.