1/12/2006

Some Desk

The Tribune reports today that City Manager recently got some new office furniture. Fine.

The bad news, though, is they spent about 1% of what Lawton lost on the Explore: The Big Sky fiasco to buy it. Yes, after years of suffering through long days sitting at the old desk, "a miserable contraption," the City Manager went out and spent $5,500.00 on a new desk.

Do I begrudge our City Manager new office furniture? Of course not. If the old stuff was as bad as he says, I only wonder why he waited as long as he did to replace it.

The article does point up a distinction between their attitudes about our money and ours, though. I went out and found the 'standard issue' desk we use in our offices for about $1,200.00. (Of course I paid a little over half of that when I bought it years ago) Add the credenza and some filing space and you double that. But you're still less than half of what the City spent. How does mine hold up? Well, my desk is 13 years old with no problems.

Why did I not spend $5,500.00 on my desk? Because it's my own money. I shopped around and found the lowest cost I could find on what appeared to be reasonable quality.

The Tribune, ever to provide political cover, said that "office furniture can cost substantial chunks [sic] of money." They then went and reviewed other city purchases to see what they spent. Nowhere did they investigate what else could be out there.

More of the same, folks...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Once again, John Lawton (aka Osama John Lawton) shows his true disdain for the average working stiff. The desk he so cavalierly dismisses as "a piece of junk from day one" was built by a skilled craftsman who spent many hours building the desk, the credenza and a phone stand. This man is now deceased, but for many years was a valued and loyal City employee, Skees Birkenbuel.
The actual cost of materials on the job was $880, which was pencilled in on the approved plan.
Bob Duty (who was the Public Works Director) erased those figures and lied to Mr. Stockwell. He lost his job over that, and Stockwell followed him soon after. The labor bill was padded by Birkenbuell's boss.
If the drawers were sticking, why didn't Lawton call a carpenter? Oh wait, I guess he fired the City Carpenter...
Th high point of the Fibune article was Lawton discussing his retirement. It can't come a day too soon! The chicken feathers are ready, and the tar is warming up nicely. Anybody got a spare rail?