For victims of the Cedar Rapids flood, the budget crisis is hitting home

Flood map courtesy City of Cedar Rapids. Click for larger PDF version.

Few in the crowd of 70 people sat peacefully on the padded folding chairs in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church in downtown Cedar Rapids Monday afternoon, as two dozen state legislators, state officials and local elected officials listened to stories of last summer’s flood and its impact on the city. While the audience was polite, there was an undercurrent of tension with the shared realization that a major fiscal fight is brewing on the horizon.

Residents and officials understand that Iowa is working through a state budget crisis, but they also understand that rebuilding the lives shattered by devastating flooding must take priority. The difficulty of reconciling those two goals was not hard to miss.

Among those speaking were recovering or hoping-to-recover businessmen and -women, homeowners, agency representatives, people of faith and former residents.

Two Cedar Rapids women who lost nearly everything in the June floods nervously agreed to tell their stories to the audience in the hopes of getting state officials to act.

“I just hope that I shared the right things that will give them motivation to move forward faster and see the whole picture,” said SanDee Skelton, a woman who has taught dance through the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department and was trapped, along with her most prized personal possessions, in her car when the levee broke. “I didn’t want to get up and complain about a lot of things, because I think they all get enough complaints. They need to hear some positive things as well because we are not motivated when we’re griped at all the time.”

Laurie Barrick lived across from the A&W Drive-In on Ellis Boulevard prior to the June floods. She hopes that her story will provide local legislators “ammunition” when they return to Des Moines next week.

“If we don’t share our stories, how will [our representatives] know what has really happened to us? Even if they drive around and see the damage, that still isn’t the personal stories,” Barrick said. “Living in this is much different than seeing a photograph or watching it on television.”

State Rep. Tyler Olson, a two-term Democrat representing  the southeastern portion of Cedar Rapids, described the stories he heard  as some of “most moving” he’s had opportunity to hear.

“I think that today was particularly helpful because we had a lot of representatives- and senators-elect that maybe have not heard the direct stories before,” he said. “There were also a lot of legislators from outside of the area who came. The comments I heard in the car [during the tour of flood damage] were very positive from people who are seeing this damage for the first time.

“Even though the damage has been around for seven months and is burned into all of our heads locally, it’s not that way for the legislators in other parts of the state.”

Democratic Iowa Sen. Rob Hogg of Linn County and and Democratic Rep. Tom Schueller of Jackson County, chairmen of the Rebuild Iowa Committee for their respective legislative chambers, attended the meeting. Hogg organized the Cedar Rapids forum and has called for the state to aggressively respond to disaster recovery throughout the state. Both he and Olson have cautioned that inaction will only make the problems throughout the state worsen.

“Disaster recovery should be a part of economic recovery,” Hogg said.

Most of those speaking at the forum avoided complaining and followed the mantra of catching more bears with honey, but many were frustrated by what they perceived as current insurmountable gaps between what they need and the available state funding.

Representatives of local agencies presented papers that documented the flood’s impact. Small-business man Gary Ficken described how his business with 21 employees has been displaced into the basement of his home, and how the business went from $140,000 in debt to more than $900,000 in debt overnight.

“Will we be able to continue to operate with such a debt? I don’t know. I know that each night I go to bed and pray that we will,” he said.

Hosea Canalles and his wife, Maria, described the state of the eight rental properties they own and manage in Cedar Rapids. Because the properties were rentals, the couple does not qualify for many of the available state recovery funds.  The six properties damaged in the floods continue to sit without occupants.

“We cannot be forgotten by government,” Canalles said.

While the no-interest, forgivable loans from the Jumpstart Iowa Recovery Program have been invaluable, only businesses who have received either a disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration or have borrowed money from a certified lending institution for disaster assistance qualify. Some homeowners who previously qualified for Jumpstart monies have discovered that because of city “construction zone” limitations, they can no longer accept the funding. Local residents feel the program, while making an impact in the recovery effort, does not go far enough.

“Jumpstart is not available for renters,” commented Cedar Rapids businessman Bill Aossey. “It’s a disadvantage to renters and prevents them the opportunity of permanent home ownership.

“These are complexities — all of these things being discussed. And what we’re given is all a bureaucratic system that is not changing to help people.”

Mary Davis, another landlord, was overcome with emotion as she described how she has been unable to gather the needed funds necessary to make repairs on her rental units. Also, when the units are repaired, she said potential renters are concerned about moving into the flood zone.

Doug Elliot, executive director of East Central Iowa Council of Governments, explained that the Jumpstart program has already disbursed all state monies and is having difficulty working through the bureaucracy that surrounds available federal monies.

Linn County Mental Health Director Craig Wood and Czech and Slovak Museum President Gail Naughton appealed directly to the legislators in attendance.

“We know that we are to expect an upsurge in mental health care six months after a disaster such as this and again at the six-year mark,” Wood said. “Currently our department falls under the governor’s across-the-board budget cuts. Given what we are facing, I hope we can be given a waiver.”

Naughton asked that priority be given to future flood prevention, explaining that many larger museums are now refusing to make loans to facilities in the flood area. She also reminded legislators of the educational role museums and cultural centers have in the community.

“[These forums] drive home the message to legislators that there are still a lot of families and business people hurting,” Olson said. “Even though we have FEMA and SBA and Jumpstart and Jumpstart Express, there is still a gap that we need to fill. It’s something that local legislators would have liked to have gotten moving on months ago, but we are now at a point where we will start the new session in a week. We will work through the Rebuild Iowa Committee and other committees to get the job done.”