Phil's accessible party pad
Our illustrious Governor and the wife who refuses to use her husband's name told the people of Tennessee that the money for the renovations to the Governor's Mansion were going to come from private sources. Then they changed their tune and said that they needed $10 million from the public coffers to make the mansion accessable to people with disabilities (As a person with disability, I have great trouble grasping how that would cost 10 million dollars. I could see $100,000-and in today's climate the number could legitimately go as high as $250,000.) Now the tune is changing yet again:
Initially, renovating the Governor's Mansion and bringing the house into
compliance with provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act was to cost
less than $10 million. Today, the price tag has ballooned to $19.2 million, over
20 times the $900,100 appraised value of the house.
Despite the First Lady's pledge that she would "raise 60 percent to
80 percent of the total cost privately," state taxpayers are on the hook for
$12.8 million, according to the State Building Commission document. Only a third
of the cost of the project has been raised privately.
"The First Lady has turned the Governor's Mansion into a house of horrors
for taxpayers," said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy
Research. "Tennesseans have already been tapped for nearly $13 million to
renovate the Mansion and I have a feeling that the First Lady isn't finished
raiding our pockets."
As for the Mansion, it is just falling down around the Governor and his family-they don't even live there (and never have). You know things are bad in Nashville when myself, Donna Locke, Sharon Cobb, Drew Johnson, Bill Hobbs and a bipartisan cast of characters all say that the Governor's priorities are terribly misplaced. Are there not better things to do with taxpayer funds than build a basement addition under a residence where the Governor doesn't even live?
Labels: Tennessee politics
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 12:05 AM
1 Comments:
I have read the previous posts written about why conservatives voted for Bredesen. But, this beats all I ever saw. Not surprised, however, many have used such reasoning (it's for the children, disabled, elderly, etc.) in time past.
When you get your invitation to the grand unveiling, let us know how it looks, Dave.
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