Even if it’s fairly horrifying, it’s unsurprising:
As Iowa’s positive coronavirus cases climbed this week to their highest level yet, local elected officials in several of the state’s most populated counties said they are increasingly relying on data sources other than the state health department to make decisions about protecting residents in their communities.
In places such as Polk, Story, Johnson and Linn counties, several officials complained they no longer trust state data or metrics because case numbers have been consistently under-reported and contain inaccuracies — and that Gov. Kim Reynolds’ guidance thus far has failed to quell the coronavirus’ spread.
“Iowa has become an island to ourselves,” said Linn County supervisors Chairman Ben Rogers, a four-term elected official from the northeast side of Cedar Rapids. “We find ourselves at the top of all the bad lists. … It’s not slowing down.” [Des Moines Register]
The Democrats could screw this up, too, it’s true, but when a party has come to believe that nothing but collecting loot and plaudits follows a political victory, as has the GOP, and when its expertise and experience is disdained in favor of political loyalties and the soothing of tender, needy egos, it’s not hard to guess that the entire exercise at the State level is being mishandled.
Or even deliberately.
It’s beyond question that the county-level officials lack the resources to manage these sorts of things on their own; this is one reason a state, or a national government, exists. But it appears these folks will have to get creative in the face of incompetence – or malevolence.
