Today's Seattle Times reports that the City of Seattle will end up paying $4.2 million more than expected in renovations to South Lake Union Park as part of a boondoggle deal with Paul Allen.
[City Councilmember Richard] McIver, who leads the council's finance committee, said the council is obliged to approve additional spending for the park because Paul Allen's team got the best of city officials in a complex deal approved last year.Maybe Richard McIver and other city officials who approved the deal can make partial recompense to the taxpayers by disgorging some of the campaign contributions they have received from Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures and its employees. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 20, 2006 08:55 AM | Email This
Poll at Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002941360_keyarena20m.html
Posted by: Erik on April 20, 2006 12:41 PMNo, Paul Allen's team and city officials got the best of taxpaying citizens. You can bet the deal was quite lucrative for Allen and the city officials.
On one side of the negotiations you have the billionaire moocher Paul Allen, Washington's own diamond studded welfare queen, second only to Boeing. On the other side, negotiating on behalf of the taxpaying citizens, you have thieves in public office with free access to lots and lots of your money. What do you expect? That they will act in your best interest instead of their own?
Why do these thieves keep getting elected? Is it because the poor, the middle class and the stupid think they will plunder rich people like Paul Allen and share the loot with them? Yeah, right. It's easier and more lucrative for rich moochers and thieves to plunder you and share the loot with each other.
Posted by: ken on April 20, 2006 01:09 PMWhoever the city hired to study the seawall must have been a "special" contractor, because a reputable firm would have noticed the problems now causing the price increase. McIver should be going after that firm and the city's legal negotiators for doing such a p*ss poor job. That won't happen because McIver is the same doof who played the racism card when he wasn't allowed into the WTO riot area without proper credentials, so common sense is obviously lacking.
Posted by: Burdabee on April 20, 2006 02:58 PMI've had several at 10% or greater because I hit the contractors when they aren't working (i.e. my timing was right). Other times I have heard of the staff making outrageous contingency estimates, so that there wouldn't be an overrun.
Actually, that question came up before we bid on Sound Transit. The answer by the pimps were that the estimates and money requested all had more than enough contingency in them, so that if you voted "yes" then you weren't going to have to worry about overruns.
Well, we know how that turned out, didn't we?
Posted by: swatter on April 20, 2006 03:26 PMHave you heard ST's on time and under budget adds?
Hey if I left home to go pick up the new Mercedes S500 that we agreed to spend $105,000 on, and then stop by and play pinball at the corner tavern on the way home and told my wife it would cost $20 for the evening and I would be home by midnight......then after leaving home I decide to fly to the Bahamas, gamble off $75,000 and be back by Christmas with a new Ford crown Victoria, I will be dipped and rolled if I am going to try to tell her that I accomplished the task ‘on time and under budget’ just because I actually only gambled off $70,000 and made it home by Thanksgiving.
Seattle's finest at work deep in the pockets of taxpayers. I am so glad I moved out of Seattle 35 years ago. Told them so then and telling you so today. Seattle has run amok!
Do forget that Ron Sims pressure the private company to rehire the fired illegals. And Seattle is a refuge for illegals. Read what Georgia did to curb the illegal aliens. There are some states getting it right. Back to the topic.
And the problem is?
Posted by: snuffy on April 20, 2006 04:38 PMIt would be interesting to compare what the city has spent in co-operation with Allen that has amounted to so much waste being flushed down the toilet versus the same amounts that Seattle government spends to buy votes from the local unions. I'd be willing to bet that what Allen receives is a drop in the bucket.
Hate Paul all you want, but if Seattle had decided to work with him on fixing the Mercer mess back in the 90's, the city would probably have a lot more tax revenue overall, and that part of the city would not be an eyesore and a royal paint in the rear to drive around in.
At least Allen's projects will eventually result in higher property values and the taxes and investment that come with it. What have the government employees unions given us for their big fluffy paychecks other than the same thing that the private sector could provide for 60% of the cost?
Also, the city is keeping quiet about what kind of tax deal was worked out with Allen. Although you are correct that property values will go up, I would be interested in seeing any documentation that shows when the city will actually come out ahead. Allen is not a stupid man, so you can bet the taxpayers are going to chip in a lot more then they get back for quite some time.
Posted by: Burdabee on April 20, 2006 11:18 PMMy real point what that everyone in Seattle seems so willing to bash Paul Allen when he tried to partner with the city to get things done, but they tend toward a blind eye to the continued rape of this cities finances by the unions here.
The simple fact is that if you compare the cost of getting anything done here versus other parts of the country, it costs more here, and the cost keeps going up.
My daddy used to say "Think big business is dangerous? Wait until you've had a taste of big government!"
I'd amend that a bit to say "Think big business is bad? Wait until you've had a taste of big government unions."
Posted by: johnny on April 24, 2006 10:54 PM