This wheelchair ramp costs $1.1 million to the City of San Francisco
San Francisco's city government is lamentable... in the private sector, this would be bid rigging...
Here's what else is going into the million-dollar ramp:
-- $77,000 for the city's Bureau of Architecture project manager, design and construction fees.
-- $455,000 for the actual construction, plus asbestos removal.
-- $28,000 for a construction scheduling consultant.
-- $3,500 for an electrical consultant.
-- $68,000 for the Bureau of Construction Management to oversee the construction and various consultants.
-- $12,000 for Department of Technology and Information Services oversight.
-- $16,500 for permits and fees. (Yes, believe it or not, the city charges itself.)
-- And as much as $65,000 for bid overruns.
And a few more quotes that sound just too self-serving for the citizenry:
"It's crazy," admits Susan Mizner, director of the mayor's Office on Disability. "But this is just the price of doing business in a historic building."
"I deserve equal access to every part of the chamber," Alioto-Pier (the supervisor who uses a wheelchair) told her colleagues, adding that ending discrimination is worth the $1 million.
One year ago, the city government, in its quest to turn a historic armory building into low cost housing, drove its owner to sell to a porn studio.
That's nuts! Obviously that's what happens when it's not your money to spend. Stimulus package? Ha -- that's a joke when you have this going on.
Reply to this
These are the same politicians who now are running the US Congress. Get Ready, especially if Obama or Clinton gets elected..there will be no 'watch dog' to veto anything they pass.
Reply to this
If only the liberals can see through their policy inefficiencies... conceptually it doesn't seem all that hard to leverage fiscally conservative, logical policy making to issues like the wheelchair ramp. Cities can admirably provide for those in need, like the handicapped and homeless, but do so without the stink of political bid rigging. Republicans and Democrats both do it - it's a bipartisan issue to clean this stuff up. That's why this is an issue of transparency... politics always needs checks and balances from local to national levels so none of this opaque activity sees the light of day.
Reply to this
Wow, I find it tough to get my head around this one. This is definitely a place where I can see transparency being very important.
Reply to this
I would have built ramp for $200.00 [$100 for each required day]. AND, I would have used things lying around, to build it!
Total cost: $250.00
Reply to this