Mark Ridley-Thomas is certainly not anyone to take the "cheap" route, even if it's the taxpayer dollars getting burned up. He is the newest member of the County Board of Supervisors and make a big splash in this entirely wasteful and shameless expense as some sort of testamenta and validation of his own self-worth. Channel 7 yesterday has a feature on this. "$707K approved for Ridley-Thomas renovations," Tuesday, December 1, 2009. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7148171
$707,000.00 for "remodelling" the office comes out to about two times what the mean value of a house in L.A. costs. Tiger Williams may be doing the Kobe thing and buying his wife a "house on a ring" but this is two houses, and paid with tax dollars, too.
Channel 4 NBC television has a news item by Jonathan Lloyd on this as well- it still comes out bad for Ridley-Thomas. Still "Oink, Oink" for the supervisor.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/County-Considers-Supervisors-700000-Office-Renovation-78250317.html (Dec. 2, 2009).
I always suspected it but now I am sure that this guy is just all about himself- and using the SEIU and other unions interests to get to where he convinces himself of his importance. Maybe the Mayor and the others in the State Asssembly members were bad role models in taking the frugal path in expenditure in funds more seriously. Fabian Nunez and pal, Gil Cedillo, have each been in the news about their choices and amounts (large) of expenditures, usually tied in to travel.
I heard a caller last night on talk radio say he works at the L.A. Co.-USC Med. Center in the basement of an old building. He said he's in the service employees union and supported Ridley-Thomas, but they have a carpet in the workplace that for years they have been trying to get replaced or removed because it triggers allergies in numerous poeple and is a hazard in that regard. They have been unsuccessful and can't even get it out just to leave the bare concrete floor there. That's a very symbolic view where people in public office tend to forget the little people who get them into office and have less interest in what the little people have to deal with in their lives, especially when there are problems in the workplace that is county affiliated.
When you talk about "pigs feeding at the public trough" this situation is what reinforces that picture and I won't call it a "stereotype" picture, it's just what there.
The more surprising thing is that the other 4 supervisors approved the expenditure- and none of them has ever had such an expense accumulated for their own office remodels. What happened here? (or does Mark Ridley-Thomas have some deal for them in store that makes it worthwhile? If so, I can't imaging what it could be to have them allow this.)
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