THUMB AWARD FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE

Thumbs Down to City Manager Charles Anderson for letting the city staff develop some sloppy work habits. It’s become a habit for citv staffers to submit a budget on a proiect, get city council approval and then come back a few months later asking for more money because they underestimated the cost. Two recent incidents involve expansion of the Southside Wastewater Treatment Plant and the development of the Oak Cliff Municipal Center. The cost of the first project was originally estimated at $90 million. Now the staff says it needs at least $28 million more for the water treatment plant. The second project came in with an estimate of $3.5 million and now needs $300,000 more. (We won’t even remind you what happened with the Dallas Symphony Hall.) What’s really suprising is that hardly anyone on the city council has even raised an eyebrow at these outrageous miscalculations.