

More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday - juliusdavies
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14303473

======
tc
When voters reject a tax increase, it isn't unusual for a city (or even a
school district) to make cuts in those services that inflict the _maximum_
pain in the most visible way [1,2,4].

Businesses, of course, do the opposite when facing a budget crisis. They cut
as far back as possible while still delivering as many of the things that
their customers care about as they can [3].

It always seems silly to me when people worry about private sector pseudo-
monopolies when we haven't figured out how to fix the incentives of that
singular cartel that currently controls about half of our GDP.

[1] In part they are just living up to the implicit promises they make when
asking for the tax hike. The message is never, "we need to raise taxes or else
we'll be forced to cut the salaries and benefits of overpaid bureaucrats and
work to operate more efficiently." No, it's always, "we need to raise taxes or
else the lights will go out, and you _wouldn't_ want that." You wouldn't
expect them to let people down?

[2] Another commenter here usefully pointed out that this is an example of the
Washington Monument Syndrome:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument_Syndrome>

[3] When I say 'businesses' above, I'm principally referring to the millions
of private companies in the US, not the handful of attention-grabbing public
firms where management can extract wealth from the shareholders (and the
government, in the case of GM and the banks). There is a different set of
perverse incentives operating there. An entrenched (government-supported)
monopoly could act the same way, as could (to some degree) a politically
entrenched department head of a private organization. The bad incentives
derive from high switching costs resulting in monopoly economics.

[4] Regarding rigor (questioned below): 1) my claim about what is usual in
these circumstances is based on my own personal observations working with
local governments; 2) I cited the Wikipedia article for naming of the
phenomenon, not for rigorous support of its existence (be your own judge for
that), and 3) this is already more rigorous than I intended to be for a simple
comment about a common phenomenon that others have observed and noted long
before the internet was available for us to debate every ontological question
at length.

~~~
chez17
I don't think it's as deliberately evil as that. It's probably more along the
lines of someone one thinking, "Do I cut my own salary or drop a fire fighter?
Hmmm... My house hasn't caught on fire yet!"

~~~
thaumaturgy
Or, maybe, it's a move by a number of officials that are as frustrated by the
situation as everyone else, and doubly so since nobody else really knows the
situation as well as they do.

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fnid2
The lights out Denver actually sounds like a _better_ Denver -- Bravo! No more
wasting water on grass. We are facing a real water crisis in the world. No
more redundant street lights to pollute the night sky. My car already has
headlights and I'd rather see stars and fewer wasted kilowatts and less
pollution in the air..

Insurance protects people against loss due to fire and if you are relying on
the fireman to save you, you're not very wise. I've watched homes burn to the
ground right along side the fire crews. We've already crossed the line into
police state, so reduction there probably will have little effect. If you want
to reduce the need for cops, make fewer things illegal. Isn't dope already
legal in Denver?

~~~
psranga
I'm with you on the grass (there're movements to use water-saving native
American foliage instead of grass, which is suited to a wet England-like
climate), and _MAYBE_ with you on the streetlights if they intelligently do it
so that pedestrian safety is not impaired.

But not firefighters (but they only cut 3 fighters, so it's probably going to
be OK). Fire insurance premiums assume the presence of a firefighters. W/o a
good firefighting force, a fire that burns down one house will probably end up
burning down 100.

You watched _a_ house burn down but did you notice that none of the _others_
burned down?

~~~
fexl
"Fire insurance premiums assume the presence of firefighters."

Excellent point. I highly encourage any insurers in that area to hire some
firefighters to reduce their liability.

~~~
fnid2
For some number of home owners _n_ it will be more economical for them to all
chip in and buy a fireman or two than to pay the additional premiums that
result from the cut.

Capitalism can work here. Taxes don't need to buy firemen.

~~~
psranga
Since you're the one advocating a system different from the status quo, the
burden is on you to provide a serious analysis instead of a glib hypothesis.

To use an Internet/cellphone analogy, sometimes is cheaper for the provider to
just provide an "unlimited" plan instead of tracking usage. I'm almost certain
the current system of universal firefighting coverage evolved from a previous
system of privately purchased firefighters.

In other words, I strongly suspect that the 'n' value here is "whole city".

~~~
fexl
No problem, I'm completely cool with any business plan that does not include
clauses such as "And in this case, we take all your stuff and lock you in a
cage."

------
robryan
It is refreshing to see a city being realistic about their budget problems.
From what I have read a lot of other American cities seem to just be digging
themselves a bigger hole.

~~~
telemachos

        s/a lot of other American cities seem/America seems/

------
proee
I lived in CS for two years - nice little town but the industries there are
having a hard time. Intel shut down their fab and the 'Garden of the Gods'
business complex is full of huge carcases from other business that have left
the area.

~~~
fexl
Heh, back in the '80s I worked at that Garden of the Gods biz complex, for
Hewlett-Packard.

~~~
proee
Nice area no? The sky is always so blue there (literally).

~~~
fexl
You got that right. Great hiking too, along the foothills and all the way up
Pike's Peak. And speaking of "fourteeners," the Collegiate Range is pretty
spectacular too.

------
dantheman
Flagged

What is it today with these troll bait stories -- there is no interesting
discussion about this topic.

Votes decide not to enact tax, government cuts services that effect citizens
the most -- this has happened throughout history; it's called the Washington
Monument Strategy

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument_Syndrome>

~~~
seigenblues
that's one of the thinnest wikipedia articles i've ever seen. C'mon, outside
of the hysterical NRO articles it has at the bottom, can you show me another
example of it "happening throughout history?"

~~~
dantheman
Here's a few more uses from google:

"I think it's unfortunate when some use what has often been called the
Washington Monument strategy," Mr. Pataki said at a news conference. "When you
make a cut, you immediately say you are going to cut the Washington Monument
because it is the most visible way to get public attention."
[http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/15/nyregion/suny-trustees-
pla...](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/15/nyregion/suny-trustees-plan-cuts-
under-pataki-s-budget-plan.html)

[http://writteninfo.com/2009/04/fire-department-in-fairfax-
co...](http://writteninfo.com/2009/04/fire-department-in-fairfax-county-va-
caught-in-corrupt-spending-uses-washington-monument-strategy/)

<http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/24528.html>

[http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/07/15/the-washington-
mon...](http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/07/15/the-washington-monument-
syndrome-backfires-in-massachusetts/)

------
fexl
I lived in Colorado Springs for 6 years. I highly encourage anyone who cares
about parks there to put up some money and buy the land from the city.

