Tag: Finley

After Two Years, Idea of Raising Lifeguard Wages Finally Penetrates Finley’s Thick Skull

Well, I certainly feel vindicated. After YEARS listening to Finley stand up there at council meetings stupefied that nobody wants to work for his shitty $7.50/hr wage (now bumped to $8.25 after 2 years of being shorthanded) and YEARS of ranting about how the solution is to pay them a normal lifeguard wage (at least $10/hr) he may finally be seeing the light.

He told council tonight that he was “a little concerned” because only ONE person has applied to work at the pool. In a rare moment of enlightenment, he says “there is a lot of competition for labor out there.”

No shit?!? Jesus Christ. Talk about living under a rock in a fantasy world. This is the SAME Finley who threw $110,000 at Ryan Ward for the ACM position (about 30% higher than the national average) and $85,000 at Stacey Ybarra (more than Mandy made after 5 years there) but he is too stupid to realize he needs to jack the lifeguard wage up to at LEAST $10/hr? Mind boggling.

He tells council “we may have to get creative…we may have to look at our pay scale“. That is not creative, you moron. That is math….and I have suggested it over and over and over.

You see, Finley only overpays Directors and Nerf job holders. That’s because (a) they will lick his balls harder in gratitude and (b) the higher he jacks the salaries of Nerf jobs holders like Stacey Ybarra and Ryan “Seth Rogen” Ward, the higher he can request his OWN salary be bumped in comparison – because is at the top of the totem pole and if any Nerf director directly under him gets up too high in salary, the answer is to raise Finley’s salary in response.

I suspect “Doctor” Chane Rascoe thinks the same way.

Lifeguards, on the other hand, are seasonal workers with zero contact with Finley. So Finley has no interest in helping them as they won’t be directly under his command and eager to lick his sack in thanks – like Ward is.

This is why Finley works in government and not in the private sector.

2017 Talbert Versus 2020 Talbert

Here is an interesting nugget I ran across from Jan 17, 2017 [page 11] regarding the last time City council renewed their trash hauling contract.

WAY back then (three whole years ago), the City of Lampasas used Waste Management for their trash hauling. That contract was due to expire in the spring of 2017. Here is what then-council-member Misti Talbert said about renewing the contract with Waste Management:

 “City council is not unhappy with Waste Management but wants to see if it is possible to save money on trash collection”

Wow. Smart thinking, Misti. I would agree that it NEVER HURTS to look around for a better deal. Seems to be something City council rarely does with anything else (*cough Azbell cough*), but I wholeheartedly agree it is a smart thing to do with EVERYTHING.

So what happened in 2017? Finley and the gang looked at FIVE different companies and let them bid for the new contract (yes, there are FIVE companies out there!). According to 2017 Finley, this “is a highly competitive process” [1/20/17 front page news].

Oh goody! Competition! That is always good for getting the best price!

They determined that Waste Connections “had the highest score of the five companies that submitted proposals for trash service” [3/3/17 front page news].

They did all this work for a three-year contract…since that Waste Connections contract was to last until April 30, 2020 (two weeks from now). All well and good. Nice job, 2017 Misti and 2017 Finley!

Fast forward three years to 2020 Talbert and 2020 Finley. Waste Connections’ contract is now up for renewal and the new period will be for FIVE years. Do 2020 Talbert (now mayor) and 2020 Finley still have the same zeal for “seeing if it is possible to save money on trash collection”?

Nope. Finley now can’t be bothered with that stuff. He says his “recommendation for council to extend [the current Waste Connections] contract is because of the company’s good performance and the potential disruption of service if the city sought a different provider” [2/18/20 front page news]

Weird how nobody worried about “potential disruption of service” three years ago when they let five companies go at it to get the best price. So what changed?

Well, as I have already mentioned previously, three members of City council (Talbert, Toups, Kuehne) won a bribe prize back in 2019 in a karaoke contest hosted by…..you guessed it! Waste Connections! They took home a whopping $2,500 in Oct 2019 and before that, $5,000 in 2018.

In short, Waste Connections handed three members of City council thousands of dollars just months before those same council members would be making a decision on a new five year, $5.5 MILLION dollar contract

Sooooo….back THEN (2017) it was worth it to check around for a better price just for the hell of it. But NOW (2020), after winning a bribe prize from Waste Connections, you are perfectly happy NOT to bother looking around for a better price, despite the fact that there is a “highly competitive process” out there and despite the fact that THIS contract is for a much longer period (5 years versus 3).

Got it.

My how things change in 36 months.

Just to be clear, you can hardly call this a bribe…since ALL the money Waste Connections handed to City council (plus another $7,200 swiped from the HOT slush fund) was immediately wasted on some giant metal letters. They didn’t PERSONALLY see any gain from the money. HOWEVER, they were without a doubt in my mind, influenced and not intelligent enough to see it. Unwittingly duped, as it were.

Transparency In City Government Is a Bad Joke

I had a good laugh a few weeks ago when Mayor Talbert opined at the end of a City council meeting [go to the 1:26:45 mark and listen for 45 seconds] about how citizens should be able to ask department heads anything and get answers…that there should be complete transparency.

Her exact words: “I feel like (City) staff and Council oughta be tasked with being accountable to answer on the spot…and..uh…I would be comfortable doing that….that’s transparency at its finest…is…you know…we don’t put off a question, we answer it on the spot”

I chuckled because every single time I ask a department head (IT, LEDC, Finance, etc) OR even Finley himself a question that might actually make them look negligent, incompetent or profligate, ‘transparency’ goes right out the window. This is evidenced by my past questions about the no-bid Azbell A/V contract, the LEDC and ‘business park’ contracts, employee discipline questions, ransomware attack questions…..the list literally goes on and on.

In fact, this ENTIRE BLOG only exists because I asked IT DIRECTOR Monica Wright (July of 2018) a simple question about what appeared to be a ridiculously overpriced NO-BID audio/visual system from Azbell Electronics for the new Council chambers. Her response? To copy and paste a couple sentences from the Azbell bid sheet! When I pressed her, Finley took over immediately and shut down all lines of inquiry. Seems to be a pattern with all “department heads” – they aren’t actually ‘head’ of jack shit, but rather a Finley Finger Puppet dancing to his tune.

Well, I have apparently opened an whole NEW can of worms regarding the City’s health insurance premiums and payouts. I had recently politely requested information that is WELL WITHIN my rights as a taxpaying citizen and guess what? Finance Department head Yvonne Moreno and City manager Finley ‘Elmo” deGraffenreid are once again hiding behind their City attorney and stonewalling me.

When that happens, I just KNOW I am on to a big stinky pile of dogshit they prefer to keep hidden. Good thing I still have MY lawyer on retainer.

Details coming up very shortly! I know you all need SOMETHING to keep you entertained during quarantine. Until then, let’s watch Finley ‘Elmo’ deGraffenreid make the Seven Goldfish dance to his tune…

RKJ Construction Kicks deGraffenreid In The Nuts One Last Time For Elevator

RKJ Construction – the company in charge of the overpriced elevator for the Old City Hall project – apparently kicked Finley in his nut sack one last time on their way out the door. Jamming the City for $128,400 on a project initially bid at $119,532.

A quick recap of the elevator debacle:

  • The City sends out the elevator contract for bids WAY back in November 2016. Austin elevator is the lowest bid at $96,605 but our idiot former City councilman “Greasy” Chris Harrison moves to go with RKJ Construction at $119,532 [page 6] to ‘keep it local’.
  • The next time the elevator is mentioned in the minutes, it has somehow morphed to $125,508 [Jan 2018]. I never saw an explanation for this.
  • The Old City Hall renovation is held up for MONTHS because of the elevator.
  • Old City Hall project FINALLY done in November/December 2019
  • RKJ bills City $128,400 for elevator – FAR MORE than originally agreed to.

You’d think RKJ Construction would give the City a small break on price after (1) getting their bid accepted despite it being $30,000 HIGHER than the lowest bid and (2) screwing up so badly and delaying their entire project for months on end. You would be wrong.

In a final act of humiliation for Spinley, the City was billed a grand total of $128,400 for the elevator. A full $8,800 (7.5%) OVER their initial accepted bid of $119,532.

What was even more odd was they broke it into TWO separate checks: LAST month, the City cut a check (#153218 page 41) for RKJ for exactly $100,000 for the elevator. I thought to myself “how nice! They actually gave them a huge break on the price for being so incompetent and holding up the project for months on end”.

WRONG!

THIS month, the city cut ANOTHER check (#153799 on page 51) to RKJ for the elevator in the amount of $28,400.

I realize that being ripped-off for $8,800 is very small potatoes compared to the hundreds of thousands the City wastes annually, but Christ Finley – grow some balls and demand a few concessions from the clowns who couldn’t even get the thing done on time in the first place! You are supposed to pay LESS for incompetent work….not MORE. Absolutely pathetic.

Seven Goldfish Move Into Their New $1,500,000.00 Fishbowl

Huzzah! The $1,500,000.00 Talbert/deGraffenreid Wow-Factor Vanity Project is supposedly finally done, according to today’s Dispatch!! Only a year late and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars over budget!

I’m not sure why they waited until four days AFTER the Oct 28th City council meeting to trumpet this thing in the newspaper. Why not do your big Dispatch puff piece BEFORE the meeting? That way the highly engaged and intelligent electorate can come and gaze upon the majesty of its many big-screen TVs and its $95,000 no-bid A/V system, right?

Maybe it’s just MOSTLY done and not ALL done. Kinda like the ‘shovel-ready’ corpse repository business park. That would also explain why the Dispatch article says that City officials have announced that “a formal open house and dedication ceremony is planned in December” instead of making the same announcement last week. Gives them another month to actually make it ALL done, right?

I think one of the funniest parts of the article is where Spinley deGraffenreid explains to us morons that selling the entire building to Joe Corcoran in 2013 for $75,000 [which is less than $7 per square foot!] and then BUYING BACK THE EXACT SAME BUILDING IN 2015 FOR $229,000 was ACTUALLY a stroke of genius. BAHAHAHAHA. I gotta hand it to Spinley – I have no idea how he keeps a straight face when he makes these outlandish claims.

The explanation for paying over TRIPLE what they sold it for two years earlier? Well, I guess old Joe made some ‘improvements’ to the place – like new windows and a NEW ROOF, according to the Dispatch article.

New roof??? Weird. Because, as I recall, despite the idiots at JNW Architects collecting a check for declaring the building structurally sound [May 2016] and “in good shape”, City council LATER approved almost FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS TO RE-ROOF back on September 20th, 2018!

Spinley also loves repeating his fairy tale that the renovation was ‘only’ $1.02 million, because that’s how much they handed over to ASJ Construction. He doesn’t count all the other stuff – like the $154,000 they wasted buying back the building…the $54,000 to JNW Architects to make a bunch of mistakes consult…the no-bid $95,000 AV system…the $60,000 fire suppression system..$12,780 for 100 stackable chairs to hold the throngs of City Council attendees…$8,055 for OTHER Council furnishings…$50,000 contingency….random furnishings….the $128,400 elevator…the $45,000 roof repair that was supposedly already done by Corcoran….. and a WHOLE BUNCH of other stuff.

Only in the mind of a government bozo do those costs not count. The REAL number is WELL OVER $1.5 million, my man.

Here is a summary of just a small bit of the stupidity – the roof:

November 2013: City council decides to sell the building to Joe Corcoran for $75,000 or less that $7 per square foot.

In 2015: City council The Seven Goldfish decide to buy the same building back for $229,000 – apparently forgetting (as goldfish are prone to doing) they just sold it for $75,000. They claim the $154,000 wasted is ok because Joe fixed some windows and put on a new roof. Joe triples his money in less than two years. Your tax dollars at work.

May 23, 2016: JNW Architects said the building “is in good condition”

October 2016: Finley hands JNW another $18,000 for “structural analysis and provide documentation” for the building.

September 2018: Finley comes begging to City council for $45,000 to re-roof the building. Council The Seven Goldfish, forgetting (as goldfish are prone to do) that the building was already deemed awesome and structurally sound, agree to fork over the $45,000 with no questions.

This would all be hilarious if it was happening to Chicago or Austin Copperas Cove…but no. Sadly these morons are running OUR city. How many more millions need to be wasted before people wake up?

Taxpayers, Hold On To Your Wallets…Finley Utters “BuyBoard” Magic Phrase – Will Allow No-Bid $185,000 Bathroom

A $185,000 bathroom? Yes, it is true [page 131 and 132]. The same government that goes out and gets THREE bids for a measly $12,780 worth of stacking chairs for City Council deems it unnecessary to bother with any bids at all for a $185,000 bathroom for Campbell Park.

(I remember the Lampasas Economic Development Corporation going out and getting TWO bids for a crappy $1,500 sign for the “business park” – yet the City doesn’t see any benefit in getting several bids for a $185,000 bathroom – makes total sense, right?).

According to Council packets, the bathroom will be supplied by Restroom Facilities LTD and will be model #B424. I got in contact with this company and asked for a blueprint of the bathroom:

As you can see from the little man in a wheelchair, there is plenty of room for Bruce Haywood’s mobility scooter in there!

It is about 450 square feet with 6 toilets. So you can either look at this as $31,000 per toilet or maybe $400 per square foot. I have a friend selling a mansion in an exclusive suburb of Chicago who is asking right around $400 per square foot and not finding any takers. Makes total sense that a bathroom in a Lampasas park would cost more.

Looked at another way, the City recently told us that the average taxable value of a Lampasas residence increased over 6% last year – from $92,110 to $97,904. Therefore, as of a year ago, you could have purchased TWO HOUSES for the same price as this six-toilet bathroom the city sees fit to purchase without bidding.

Furthermore, a local contractor is donating the pad for this building! That is about $10,000 savings right there – yet the bathroom will STILL cost $185,000?? Impossible.

Pardon my French, but this “BuyBoard” scam is a big pile of bullshit. Every time Spinley utters that word, the taxpayer gets hosed. The last time Finley uttered this magic phrase, a $34,000 A/V system that was properly bid AND AWARDED to Broadcast Works turned into a $95,000 NO BID disaster handed to Azbell Electronics.

Here is a PARTIAL list of stuff that the City has deemed worthy of going out for multiple bids on (all FAR LESS than $185,000):

  • 100 stackable chairs – $12,780 (3 bidders)
  • Elevator for Old City Hall debacle – $96,000 (ignored by Chris Harrison and $126,000 bid accepted instead) (3 bidders)
  • A/V system for Old City Hall debacle – $34,000 bid awarded then cancelled and $95,000 no-bid contract awarded to Azbell Electronics (3 bidders originally)
  • Demolition of Old City Hall – $13,500 (2 bidders)
  • Sign for ‘business park’ – approx $1,500 (2 bidders)
  • Concrete/curb work for butterfly sculpture in front of city hall – approx $5,000 (2 or 3 bidders, I forget)
  • Repairing restroom on the 17th tee box at golf course – $5,200 (two bidders)
  • Shade structures at 580 Sports Complex – $15,240 (two bidders)
  • Re-route water and sewer lines – $11,450 (two bidders)
  • Construct 8-inch water line – $102,439 (two bidders)
  • Pipe, fittings and manholes for a sewer line – $10,656 (4 bidders)
  • Resurfacing four tennis courts – $18,060 (4 bidders)
  • Lighting and electrical for tennis courts (LED) – $9,700 (3 bidders)

And the most ironic of ALL from July 27, 2015 (page 6 and 7):

Mayor Pro Tem Talbert moved to approve the award of bid in the amount of $18,930.00 to Whitley Steel Building Supply for the construction of a Restroom and Concession Facility to include steel package cost, foundation cost and erection cost at the Gavin Garrett Soccer Complex. This was PUT OUT FOR BID and THREE bidders responded (high bid was over $25,000)

So a mere four years ago, these exact same people thought it WAS wise to put a restroom out for bid – and the low bid was accepted at $18,930.

NOW, they decide on a NO-BID $185,000 restroom.

THIS is the kind of egregious wasteful spending the City does ALL THE TIME. It also explains why they are now looking to jack up tax rates, electricity rates and water rates to balance their budget. Absolutely disgusting. Misty Talbert….a drunken sailor indeed!!

I really have to wonder whose nest is getting feathered when I see absolute idiocy like this.

The Finley-Spin Begins. Here is a TRUE Ransomware Timeline

City Hall is already starting to spin the narrative on this ransomware attack, so I felt it necessary to start and maintain a timeline of what REALLY transpired and will continue to transpire – with my commentary in brackets:

Friday August 16: Somebody launches a ransomware cyber attack against 22 Texas cities this morning. That same day, multiple Lampasas citizens start questioning why their utility payments aren’t being processed. According to the August 21 Radiogram, “IT Director Monica Wright immediately implemented response protocols for this type of incident.” [This is the spin it took Finley FIVE days to come up with? So the official spin is “thank god Monica was there to slam the barn door shut well AFTER the cow got out, knocked over the lantern and burned down the city…the very same door she left wide open in the first place.]

[The “protocols”! Sounds very sophisticated. Like a James Bond movie. I’d guess the actual “protocol” was Monica voiding the entire contents of her bowels into her underwear, yanking the power cord of her personal computer out of the wall thinking that might help, and then running in tears to Finley’s office sobbing about some “randomware” on her computer. Finley then turns a sickly green color and calls TSM or the state of Texas or SOMEBODY who knows SOMETHING about computers, dammit!!!]

Friday afternoon August 16, Saturday August 17, Sunday August 18: Not a peep from the City about this disaster. At this point, the police and sheriff computer systems had to be down, but that was not made public. I know this because the police system was still down on Tuesday the 20th at 5pm [and yes, I have proof]. I know they will say “we couldn’t make this public since we had a target on our backs”, but that is a pile of nonsense….because remember, the quick-thinking Monica had ALREADY implemented “protocols for this type of incident”…which any moron must assume included chopping all connections with the outside Internet world to prevent further damage….right? [at this point, the City probably hoped to solve this quickly and sweep it under the rug so as to not be completely embarrassed. Thus total radio silence]

Monday August 19: I myself started getting suspicious reading about all the people unable to pay their bills and remembering the attacks in Texas the previous week. Still not a PEEP from the city 72 hours after the incident….and police systems STILL presumably down.

Tuesday August 20: Finley tells a blatant lie to the Radiogram, saying that “a series of unrelated incidences [sic] caused the Sheriff’s Department, Police Department and Utility Department to go offline last Friday and the problem is being corrected.” [Why make this blatant lie? This is why I don’t ever trust a thing Spinley/Finley says. The cat was going to get out of the bag eventually and you know damn good and well the CITY MANAGER knew this was a coordinated attack three days ago – so why tell this complete b.s. about “unrelated incidences [sic]??]

Tuesday August 20: This very blog begins to connect the dots and get info from reliable sources at the city and state level that Lampasas DID get hit – despite Finley’s lie in the Radiogram that very morning. This blog questions Gary and Finley point-blank about it by email around 3:30pm. By 9pm, ACM Gary Cox admits they were hit and federal authorities are involved.

Wednesday August 21: The Radiogram finally prints an official statement from the Police Department that includes all the b.s. Spinley/Finley has produced after five days of polishing this turd. The most laughable part of the Spinley’s yarn is this part:

“While this attack did have some impact on City operations, the City implemented its continuity of operations plan and continued to provide City services with minimal impact to our citizens……As of press time, the City of Lampasas utility department is still offline. They are assuring customers that no cut-offs, or late notices are being processed. They hope to be back on line by Friday morning”.

[Seriously?? Continued to provide city services with minimal impact? Yeah sure….everything was just fine except all the broken parts. Lol. Then a few sentences later they say the utility department is STILL offline!! AND, they HOPE to have this mess sorted out by Friday!! A FULL WEEK after the attack! (but the impact is limited, lol) That is some serious b.s. spin, right there. Wow. Bill Clinton himself couldn’t have spun dog shit into diamonds that well].

Thursday August 22: Problem still not solved. A source of mine entered city hall and saw our two intrepid IT “experts” looking “quite frazzled”. [Probably the first full week either of them have clocked in years]

Friday August 23: One full week after the attack – problem still not solved. The Lampasas Dispatch Record reports on the attack – and regurgitates much of the same palaver reported in the Radiogram. The Original Lampasshole also makes an official Open Records Request and asks for copies of these “response protocols” and “continuity of operations” plans that were supposedly implemented in the wake of the attack.

Saturday August 24: Tried to log on and use the “Pay Utilities” page….still not up. Eight days and counting!!

Sunday August 25: The “minimal impact” STILL continues – cannot log onto the utilities payment page. How long until they just give in and pay the ransom? Will it come out of Kristy’s paycheck? Do they even know how to buy bitcoin?? We shall see…

Monday August 26th: Systems appear to be back to normal after 10 days. Mayor Misti “Drunken Sailor” Talbert thanks the City Staff for all their “hard work during the ransomware attack” (page 66). No seriously. She did.

Tuesday September 3rd: City attorney Christy-Jo Brown writes a six page letter to Texas Attorney General pleading their case as to why I should be denied information about the ransomware attack. Yup – keep the taxpaying citizens in the dark. As usual.

Monday September 9th: requests come flooding in for replacement equipment to replace servers and computers ruined in the ransomware attack – currently over $36,000 of equipment is ruined.

When the the clouds of dust settle from this debacle, there needs to be a very PUBLIC and HONEST accounting of what the hell happened. Answers to things like:

  • How EXACTLY did they get in?
  • Exactly when did Finley realize this was part of the statewide ransomware attacks and how quickly did he call in the REAL experts?
  • How long was the police system completely down?
  • Was ransom demanded? How much? Did the city pay in full?
  • Which “experts” were called in and how much did they bill the city for this mess?
  • Where was Kristy Acevedo Friday morning and afternoon? She is not mentioned at all, yet her job is “Network Administrator” and the network was left vulnerable and attacked.

Old City Hall STILL Not Complete???

I’m no detective, but the complete and utter lack of crowing about the new $1.5 million City Hall renovation and its nearly $100,000 A/V system for the last 4 months tells me this thing STILL isn’t done yet!

Remember back in mid-March when Finley informed us there would be a two-week delay on the elevator? That was a mere two weeks AFTER he told us it would be all done in a week or two.

Well, here we are FOUR MONTHS LATER…and I have STILL not seen any huge puff piece in the Lampasas Dispatch crowing about the $1.5 million dollar monstrosity. What’s the hold up? Is the elevator STILL not installed?

I find it impossible to believe that when this vanity project is done, Finley won’t invite the Lampasas Dispatch in for a photo shoot and make a BIG announcement for all of us peons to come to the next City Council meeting and grunt our approval. The wretched masses can “oooohhhh” and “ahhhhhh” and stroke the FOUR expensive 70-inch TV sets and the $5,000 DVR box like primitive monkeys stroking the giant black monolith in “2001 – A Space Odyssey“.

Yes, that is how I imagine they see us.

I mean, Monica Can’t-Wright even went out and bought 100 stackable chairs (four years ago) for this momentous occasion! This is the VERY DEFINITION of the community event Finley claims the $1.5 million debacle was built for! Yet we haven’t heard a peep in the newspaper and I haven’t seen a SINGLE mention in the council minutes – which I watch like a hawk.

I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the big pile of shit that has been sitting on the west side of the building for the last 6 months – which looks suspiciously like a disassembled $125,000 elevator to my untrained eyes.

As you may recall, former genius council member Chris Harrison thought the city should ignore the cheapest $96,000 bid for the elevator from Austin Elevators and instead go with the $125,000 elevator from RKJ Construction. He wanted to “keep it local” – which are apparently government code words for “get bent over and screwed hard”.

Again, this is all speculation on my part. If any of my usual City Hall birdies wish to chirp about this issue, you know where to find me.

$1,500,000.00 “Wow Factor” Public Meeting Room Will Not Be Used For Big Public Meeting Next Month

To those who pay attention to such things, a public meeting has been announced for June 17th at 6pm so all the whiners and complainers can whine and complain about (1) Community Planning (i.e. the $120,000 consulting contract handed to Halff Associates) and (2) City of Lampasas Budget Input (i.e. how big of a raise will Finley and Monica get this year?)

Here is the punchline: this big, important community meeting will be held in a school cafeteria. Why is this so funny to me? Well, I have a memory longer than three weeks, as it turns out. Let’s rewind quickly to September 25th, 2018 (8 months ago). Finley was busy covering his butt trying to explain to the citizens how $1.5 million dollars was a bargain price for new Council chambers and how a no-bid $95,000 A/V system was the deal of the century.

Part of his cover-his-ass story was that this vanity project was NOT just for City employees and City Council! No, no, no! To use Finley’s own words from the article, the Misti/Finley “wow factor” debacle was ALSO to “allow more public participation in council meetings [and] also will provide a place for various community groups to meet. City Manager Finley deGraffenried said the City Council’s vision is to have a facility that encourages public participation and “that could be seen as a hub” for a variety of meetings, civic activities and community groups.”

I would say a public meeting about the budget and community planning CERTAINLY fits the description of a “civic activity/meeting for a community group”. Pretty much EXACTLY what Finley described in his newspaper puff-piece 8 months ago.

So why not have this important civic meeting in the fancy new $1,500,000.00 Misti Talbert “Wow factor!” vanity project? I’m guessing there is one simple reason: it STILL isn’t completed!!

How far overdue is this vanity project? The article tells us that as well:

Later in the same article, Finley states that ASJ Construction was “50 days into the 120-day project” and that was on September 25th, 2018. Which means there were supposedly about 70 days remaining. December 4th, 2018 would mark 70 days after Finley made his statement.

Clearly the project was not done on December 4th, 2018. Not even close. Seeing as how the City will NOT be holding this important community meeting there on June 17th, that means the debacle project is now SIX MONTHS LATE (in addition to being about $500,000 more than projected).

The ease with which they just decided to have this meeting in a cafeteria and the ability of the cafeteria to hold the huge throngs (ha ha!) of people that will show up begs another question: why do we need a $1.5 million meeting room in the first place if an existing school cafeteria works just fine? A very good question…one I have been asking since last year when this monstrosity was started.

I’ll tell you why….the cafeteria just doesn’t have that “wow factor”, ya big dummy! Luckily we have wise civic leaders like Misti “Drunken Sailor” Talbert to push such huge, bold, wasteful “wow factor” projects through to completion…even if it is $500,000 over budget and 6 months behind!

Mayor Talbert City Hall Vanity Project Delayed Yet Again – Due to Overpriced Elevator

Wow. What a difference a week makes!

Just a 14 days ago, Finley assured City Council that the elevator for the City Hall Boondoggle would “arrive in mid-March” and take a week or two to install.

Not anymore.

NOW, according to Finley and city council packets, “production for elevator equipment has been pushed back two to three weeks”. Seriously?!?!? The arrival time is now “projected for the first or second week of April…and crews will take approximately two to three weeks to install.”

You will recall, back on November 14th, 2016…City Council approved an elevator bid from RKJ Construction for $119,532…and which later ballooned to over $125,000 – despite that fact that Austin Elevator bid $96,600 for the exact same job. Former city council genius Chris Harrison made a motion to accept the inflated elevator cost because “[RKJ] is local”

Let’s all take a moment to thank our stars that Harrison is a FORMER council member now.

Production?? WTF? Are they JUST NOW building an elevator for the Lampasas-Misty-Talbert-Finley-DeGraffenreid-“WOW Factor” $1,500,000 City Hall Boondoggle which has been in the works for years? How is that possible??

So, despite paying an extra $30,000 for an elevator to “keep it local”, and despite the fact it was bid on OVER TWO YEARS AGO, it is STILL not ready! What?? You’re telling me it is being specially constructed as we speak? Last I checked, an elevator is a simple box and was invented a century ago, at the least. What is the hold up? Once again – you can blame former genius Councilman Chris Harrison for this one – he made the motion to piss away an extra $30k for a local elevator – and council rubber-stamped it unanimously…as usual.

Just another delay and cost-overrun for the bloated and ridiculous City Hall “WOW Factor” renovation which is the centerpiece of the Talbert Administration. I’m seriously shocked she is running again after this debacle. I’d go hide my head in the sand, if I were her.