Mulroy as Moses

Pat Mulroy as Moses? Wait a minute, since she's been called The Chosen One isn't Moses a step down? Can she lead her followers to the Promised Land?

I am not being facetious, though; I'm not referring to that Moses, but to Robert Moses.

Who?

Bear with me now.

Unless you have studied urban planning or grew up in New York state (especially the New York City metropolitan area) during the 1930s to the mid-1960s, you probably don't know who Robert Moses was. He was the Master Builder, and arguably the most powerful figure in New York City and perhaps all of New York State, for almost 30 years. His 'urban philosophy' became widespread as his disciples spread 'the word' to other cities across the USA.

His biography, the 1,300-page tome The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, earned Robert Caro a Pulitzer Prize and was voted one of the 100 most important English-language books of the 20th century by the Modern Library.

Moses wielded incredible power, and at one time held twelve different positions simultaneously and had 80,000 persons working for him. He made policy simply by building stuff, where he wanted it built.

From his New York Times obituary:

Before him, there was no Triborough Bridge, Jones Beach State Park, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, West Side Highway or Long Island parkway system or Niagara and St. Lawrence power projects. He built all of these and more.

Before Mr. Moses, New York State had a modest amount of parkland; when he left his position as chief of the state park system, the state had 2,567,256 acres. He built 658 playgrounds in New York City, 416 miles of parkways and 13 bridges.

Yet he never held elected office, and the only time he ran for one (governor of NY in 1934), he was creamed. He was a just a public servant.

Uh-huh.

So why all this stuff about Robert Moses and Pat Mulroy? I first thought of the similarity between the two when I got this comment to my The Chosen One post:

Is Mulroy pro-development? Mulroy was handed a job to do. She does not make policy on growth. Go blame the City fathers. The City fathers are responsible for water rates.

Moses was a powerful bureaucrat who cowed politicians and forced his vision on many - his vision of the 2oth century US city, and by God, it was his sacred duty to bring that vision to fruition, politicans and communities be damned. Yes, he made policy every time he built a bridge, tunnel, parkway, or housing project.

Sound familiar?

That's what Pat Mulroy does - make policy. She will deny that and likely say that she is really the public servant who simply does what her bosses tell her to do - find more water for growth in southern Nevada. She transcends the role of  an ordinary public servant. She has a vision of 21st century Las Vegas and will implement that: cheap, plentiful water to fuel growth.

I suspect her 'bosses' - Clark County elected officials - would follow her through Hell carrying gasoline tanks if she told them to.

Don't think she makes policy? Well, don't take my word for it - read David Zetland's post.

She and Moses have one big similarity - they really weren't trained to do what they do. Neither one was trained as a planner, engineer, or lawyer, yet each mastered what they needed to know, and got the job done.

And, like Moses, Mulroy's influence extends far beyond her city - to the entire state of Nevada, and beyond.

Some would prefer to say that Mulroy channels Western water giants such as Los Angeles' William Mulholland (see David Zetland's post on this) or New Mexico's legendary State Engineer (for 35 years!) Steve Reynolds.

But I vote for Robert Moses. Besides, his last name's a better fit.

"Those who can, build. Those who can't, criticize." -- Robert Moses

Comments

[dw]

On the other side of the coin:

Nevada's allotment of the Colorado River is defined as 300,000 AF/yr. This was based on the anticipated needs at the time. Nevada's estimates were for the irrigation needs of 80,000 acres in the Ft Mohave area. This is 125 square miles. The state of Nevada is 110,806 square miles. The great James Graves Scrugham http://www.1st100.com/part1/scrugham.html represented Nevada in the Colorado River Compact http://books.google.com/books?id=im5KESJGOm4C&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=James+Scrugham+colorado+river+compact&source=bl&ots=BTMbHGCqwc&sig=yXQwvt-Pku1ih3OUKDNaI7L_DWM&hl=en&ei=AWGLSoTCGZ_FmQev1Km0DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=James%20Scrugham%20colorado%20river%20compact&f=false (sorry about the long link - but well worth the read). As much as he had the best intentions for Nevada during the Compact negotiations - he came up short in the long term interests of his state when it came to water.

Say what you will about Pat. I personally think that she is doing the best she can with what she has to work with.

dw

[Emily Green]

This comparison is apt. At some point, before she was appointed general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, it was decided that Pat would build the pipeline. Once in the job, she made the claims for every ounce of unclaimed water in 30 valleys across the state and started working with developers and politicians and the gaming industry priming Vegas for endless growth. It was always about bigger, more. Insurance for bigger, more was Pat's pipe. But she has also rebuilt much of the Las Vegas water delivery system, she's currently installing a third straw in Mead, she was strongly behind lining of the All American canal and Drop 2 canal. With the pipeline, Nevada will be hers. Big horn sheep will drink from her guzzlers, select patches of chosen flora will subsist on her irrigation, the birds of the Pacific flyway will probably be remembered in bad art for the Lake Mead boardroom at SNWA headquarters, the desert tortoises already have a sculpture by the airport. Nevada will be Pat's just as New York is Moses's. Fine fine point.

[Account Deleted]

Oh oh oh -- good post!

Bureaucrats have used the "public servant" excuses many times before. But remember who stays in the job when others are not reelected!

For some lovely background on Mulholland's role in MWDSC/Colorado River aqueduct, check out 3.2.2 of my dissertation (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1129046). Basically there was plenty of water and the no water -- same as the plot in Chinatown.