After awarding a $34,000 A/V contract to Broadcast Works in August of 2014, Monica and the IT Department went on a spending spree….you know, to “use up our funds by year end” and so forth.
First were the 100 stackable chairs, bought from Church Partners for $12,780 (but at least she got three bids and went with the lowest one!). Who knows where the chairs are now. Collecting dust somewhere in a rented storage unit?
Then, Monica made several purchases from CDW Government LLC on September 5th, 2014. Including “Chambers A/V PC and RAM for $975.68” and “TVs for New Chambers $2730.30”
Looks like more “let’s spend our budget by year end so we don’t get less money next year” kind of bullshit to me. I have requested copies of those receipts so I can see what exactly was bought. Quick question: since it is over four years later and the project is not even close to finished…where are these TVs and computers? Sitting in a dusty closet with the 100 stackable chairs? In Monica’s living room? Finley’s garage? Already obsolete?? Just more waste and stupidity from a Department rife with it.
Oh…and Monica also went out and “bought a refrigerator for the new Council Chambers executive session room” that same month. More pissing away of money! I can’t find a receipt for that purchase, but there it is listed in Monica’s monthly report (Oct 27, 2014 page 43). How much was it? Where is it now?
I seem to remember some poor bastard county official recently being crucified here in town for “stealing” a tiny mini fridge or something. People went bananas. Yet here we have the city buying thousands of dollars worth of stuff FOUR YEARS before the “house is built,” so to speak. Would you buy a bunch of furniture and computers and TVs and a fridge before you even broke ground on your house? No, you wouldn’t. Only an idiot or a lunatic does that. You wait until it’s all done and THEN you furnish it.
Unless you are trying to waste a ton of money and pad your budget, I guess.
Here in April 2015, Broadcast Works apparently still has the bid it was awarded at $33,983…so I will keep working forwards from here to see where it all went wrong. Stay tuned.
