In Case You Missed It: Urbandale City Manager's Vandalized Home Still in Disarray

It may take a month and a half to fix the damage caused to Urbandale City Manager A.J. Johnson's home by whoever put a garden hose in a basement window and turned on the water on May 16.

Johnson said experts estimated that 3,000 gallons of water was pumped into the basement. 

The entire basement floor — five finished rooms, a bathroom and a hallway — was covered with water when Christy Johnson returned from work that day. 

When A.J. Johnson got home a little later, Christy met him in the driveway.

"She came running out, tears running down her face," he said. 

Neighbors came over to help the couple remove possessions from the basement that night, but the carpet, all the woodwork, doors and door jams were ruined.

That's the tangible damage. What about the emotional damage?

"There's a lot of anger. There was kind of a shock phase where you're thinking 'Boy, something bad just happened.' You just then become more angry as you clean up. … Vandalism is an act of cowardice." 

"There's clearly a sense of violation of your space. It's your private property and someone's invaded it," he said. And even later "it kind of throws you off your rhythm as you go through your day."

Johnson said he has no idea whether he was targeted because of his position or whether the vandalism was random. He said he's been a city employee for 31 years and yet had had remarkably few serious encounters or threats.