Ubi est mea? That’s Latin for Chicago’s unofficial motto coined by columnist Mike Royko. It means, “Where’s mine?” and represents the culture of politicians and bureaucrats grabbing something for themselves whenever public money’s spent.

Having reviewed the proposed Sanitary District well vault project, perhaps we should rename our town “Chicago Hills!” This project started out simply. The underground steel lake well vaults weren’t properly coated for salty lake water and were corroding. The solution is properly repairing and coating the vaults; $100,000 for each of two vaults is reasonable for this work.

But staff asked “where’s mine?” They proposed complete vault replacement three times existing size for more working space, increasing costs to $920,214. They then asked for two new above-ground control buildings instead. New cost? $1,635,834.

But town approval is required for new buildings. The town also asked “where’s mine?” The District agreed to add two new restrooms double the control room size. The International Plumbing Code states that parks require one men’s toilet for every 75 park occupants and one women’s toilet for every 40 occupants. Current facilities satisfy that requirement, although adding one restroom may improve convenience.

The District hired a contractor for $50,000 to prepare estimates including the restroom addition. The final project’s now a whopping $3,714,000 boondoggle. This is the same cost as re-lining the entire lake. It’s about $160 for every resident in Fountain Hills, and represents a third of the District’s $10 million budget.

Perhaps it’s time for taxpayers to ask, “Where’s mine?” Since the Sanitary District is apparently so overfunded it can spend millions for park restrooms, perhaps a fee rebate would better serves the community.

If you want this boondoggle modified to prudent levels, call Mayor Dickey (480-816-5101) and District Chairman Dudash (480-837-9444). It’s time we stopped governing like Chicago Alderman!