Mason, Bailey, Council, and City Manager Shine in Time of Crisis

The flood of 2008 is rapidly becoming a memory for many in Iowa City, but for those impacted most severely, the results will be felt for a long time to come. Credit is due for the handling of the evacuation and flood relief efforts by the City council and, particularly, Mayor Regenia Bailey, and City Manager Michael Lombardo. They have been working tirelessly to make sure that city services did their best to stave the flooding and, more importantly, to insure that residents were safe.

Certainly there are questions to be answered about the flood plain designations and this, hopefully, will lead to redrawing the maps so that either a) persons living in those areas will have flood insurance or b) FEMA/city will purchase those parcels and reduce the likelihood that families will go through what the folks in Idyllwild, Normandy Dr., Thatcher/Maculis Trailer Park and other areas experienced.

For the city council, it is hoped that closer attention will be paid to developments and their impact on existing developments. Some unintended consequences of the University of Iowa's growth may have impacted the flooding situation.

For the university, the impact of the flood will take time to sort out. The funding needs alone to clean up the buildings that were flooded will cause class scheduling problems and housing concerns for the foreseeable future. Sally Mason's leadership in clearing the university is to be commended and was a good test of her leadership capabilities (though the test goes on as she will press for funding to assist in UI's recovery).

John Deeth offers more on the flood recovery here.

For 1/2 the Price of a Football Coach: UI Officially Has a New President

As expected, Purdue Provost Sally Mason has been named the 20th president of the University of Iowa. The Iowa state Board of Regents confirmed Mason this afternoon, after which she gave a brief speech and proceeded to a public reception. Mason will be paid a salary of $450,000.

I hope the UI team has a good year with Coach Mason at the helm.

Sally Mason to be UI President

The Press-Citizen and Gazette are reporting that the top post at the University of Iowa has been offered to Dr. Sally Mason of Purdue University. Dr. Mason will be the second woman to serve in this position (Current University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman was U of I's president from 1995-2002).

Though the Board of Regents at the University of Iowa aren’t expected to vote until Thursday, the board is expected to name Provost Sally Mason as the university’s next president.

The Des Moines Register reported today that sources at Iowa expect Mason to be the board’s top pick.

The regents' first attempt to name a successor failed last November when none of the finalists were judged to have sufficient experience in running a health science center.

Given the long job search and antagonism raised in the search process, I wish Dr. Mason a long stay in Iowa City.