Respectfully disagree. City Manager and architects, working hand in hand, have driven this ridiculous cost inflation from the beginning.
You must not have been present when the architects presented their plans, promising LEED for less than 16 million and asserting very shaky information about the cost of rebuilding the still-perfect steel framing of the "old" City Hall. You may wish to recall the less than 12 million dollar (highest estimate) cost to refurbish the entire "old" building that would have provided 65000+/- sq ft of usable space as well as dozens of parking spaces, protected ones?
This is a financial boondoggle usually not seen in smallish cities like this.
It can only happen when investigative reporting is asleep. Now, it is gratifying to see the R-G showing some interest, but it's a tad late in the game: where was this skepticism a year ago when the "Save City Hall" group was wildly waving its collective arms?
And the E Weekly--- another no-show or late to the show.