So true. Here in DC we have a major metrorail refit underway. Maintenance had been deferred for decades. Every time the budget came up, most available dollars went to increase pay and benefits. Every time the union contracts came up, management rolled over for raises. Maintenance was deferred. The managers warned about it, the consultants warned about it, system reliability headed south, capacity expansion was delayed, etc. But the unions kept robbing the future. It took a big scary fire (not good when you have hundreds of people trapped in a tunnel) to change the political calculus. So now we're paying a premium to make up for years of neglect. I'm sure most folks here could provide their own local stories. This is how the public sector manages.
Dams don’t vote, but sometimes they do have their say in how things happen