Disclaimer: This is a hypothetical scenario. Any correlation to an actual event is purely coincidental.
Existing Conditions:
You are the youngest person ever to be named the mayor of Big Town. Here’s how that took place. The previous mayor of Big Town had significant health problems and resigned two years ago. As a result of having been her deputy mayor, you were sworn in as mayor and have served in that capacity for the past two years. The mayoral election is scheduled to be held in two weeks and you are leading the race by a slim margin.
Existing Landscape:
Big Town is located in a relatively flat area of the country and has a wide river that runs for 1.75 miles through the central business district (CBD). Heavy rain has been falling upriver and the local meteorologists are predicting that the river in Big Town is going to rise to no more than 2 feet above flood stage on this coming Sunday. Your existing flood management staff cannot handle a flood of that magnitude without help.
Options presented to the mayor during the Wednesday Morning Staff Meeting:
A. Hire an expensive, out of town contractor who has the manpower and equipment to establish flood control measures to prevent flooding for water up to 3 feet above flood stage within 12 hours of arrival, but they cannot get to Big Town until Saturday morning.
B. Hire a cheaper, local flood control company that can get started on Thursday, but will only guarantee that they can fully contain the water if it rises no more than 1 foot above flood stage.
C. Pay your existing flood management staff overtime and tell them to do the best that they can.
It’s now Wednesday afternoon and flooding is still predicted to begin sometime on Sunday. As the mayor of Big Town, would you select one of the options shown above or do something else?
Please go to the Home page, click the Contact button, fill out the form and offer your solution.
Herb