What If?

6 Responses to “Throne Room”

1. Mike
   November 17th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

   There was a very direct memo sent a few weeks ago from Sue Weber to Mark Divecchio regarding his laying off of 44 positions in the county, and this memo was actually sent to the county employees as well. I obtained a copy of this memo and was appalled at what I read. Someone has also posted this memo on GoErie if anyone wants to peruse it.

   http://www.topix.com/forum/source/go-erie/TE24QBI5H6VTVLCTC

   Weber mentions in the memo that Divecchio spent $25,000 of taxpayer dollars to bring a group in to teach magic. What a joke! Maybe that’s why he says on his blog; “If I could do one thing right now, I would wave a magic wand and have every person in Erie county say ‘We need a community college!”
   http://www.markdivecchio.com/blog/?p=3

   Weber also stated that he has hired friends with no experience for upper level positions.

   Some will make the case that these kinds of things always happen in politics, but to me that is unnacceptable. If the things alleged in the memo are true - and given Divecchio’s history there’s no reason to believe they aren’t - and considering the office remodeling and the snowplow incident among other things, it’s time for him to go. Enough is enough.

2. Jim
   November 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am

   For years the Erie County Court House was organized in a physical way to support a commissioner form of government. We no more than finished the major court house expansion, than we decided to change the form of government to home rule charter, replacing three commissioners serving as both executive and legislative branches of government, with an executive and his staff and seven council members and their staff, which required much more space.

   At the same time the courts were expanding and we found ourselves with more judges than court rooms, necessitating the use of council chambers as a court room.

   With the prison taking up the top couple floors, the court house has been cramped for space for a long time, and security issues, especially around the courts, cramped space even more.

   We should have renovated the prison space a long time ago to make it more productive, but for whatever reason did not. The prison should never have been located within the court house to begin with.

   As for the District Attorney’s office, they have been in need of additional space for a long time. With more judges and more cases to handle, they need more personnel. Also, with the reorganization of the office of Children and Youth, the case load personnel requirements have increased. (For a town the size of Erie, with our supposed low crime rate, the number of child abuse cases should be a community embarrassment.) The point is, when the community got wildly behind the necessity of additional judges, to the point of lobbying the state to approve the positions over county government objections, somebody should have been educating the public as to the number of additional people and space requirements that would be needed to support the additional court operations. It was another case of attempting to expand service on the cheap, then followed by years of denial regarding the addressed needs, all the while enduring cost increases.

   At some point we have to start looking at these proposals more globally, in terms of what is needed to complete the task. The expansion of the number of judges did not take into account the additional defense and prosecution needs, administrative needs, jury room needs, or anything else that would be required to operate efficiently.

   Additionally, the redesign of the old commissioners office space and meeting room to accommodate the new form of government was also done on the cheap, and a relatively inefficient use of the available space, while still not permitting enough room to handle the work needing to be done. Anyone attending a meeting in councils conference room knows how cramped that space can become.

   While the number might seem large, in todays terms for quality construction, I fear we might actually be doing things on the cheap again, which will necessitate addressing this same problem again in several years, at even higher costs.

   The proposed 44 jobs reductions, or whatever it turns out to actually be, not withstanding, the rate in the growth of government at all levels is not sustainable in even good economic times, which Erie has not seen in decades.

   The cost of these renovations is a symptom of the problem of runway government growth. Controlling those costs, while important, is treating the symptom not the disease.

3. Dale Hannah
   November 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am

   As I said, Jim, I do not disagree with the project, just the timing and the cost/return relationship. On the cheap???? How long has it been since you priced solid cherry planking and installation? I know I can’t afford to update my home using the finest material, and I do not believe that such a luxurious enviroment will have any positive effect on the jobs being done in the offices.

   Work space and updated technology are definately needs. Window dressing is not, and should have been so over the top.

   Besides, the county could now purchase Lovell Place for only 7+ million and have all the space they need for years to come.

4. Jim
   November 18th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

   I wouldn’t want Lovell. I’m not convinced the mechanical systems there are all they should be, and the place will need major renovation in the not too distant future. I think the maintenance issues there will be similar to what is currently being experienced by the new Modern Tool owners, relative to HVAC issues, water leaks, carpet replacements, etc. I fear whoever the new owners of Lovell turn out to be, they will find the place to be a money pit, just as the current owners have. Deferred maintenance is not a long term strategy. Given the county history in that regard, I wouldn’t want them to even consider it. I also would like to see it remain on the tax rolls. The city has more than enough tax exempt property now.

   As for the decor, the court house is the county seat, and the county has taken over a large portion of regional responsibility for marketing Erie. First impressions in business matter, and we don’t generally make that good of a first impression, so I’m not offended by the materials selection, necessarily. And it isn’t as if the current county executive will be there forever. Even Judy Lynch got beat after a while, and had to leave.

   What we really need to be doing is reducing our dependency on the growth of government to be our economic stimulant of choice. It simply isn’t working.

5. tim
   November 18th, 2008 at 10:31 pm

   Dale, Brad Foulk was interviewed the other night by Craig Layne on WJET-TV. Mr. Foulk says he “sees nothing wrong or improper” with the new offices. He also went on to add that he “saw nothing wrong with the Cherry cabinetry” and that he “needed the space.”

   So I guess thats that!?

   These politicians all cover each others butts - disgusting!

   I do so hope Barry Grossman runs for County Executive and knocks DiVecchio out in the Primary!

6. Dale Hannah
   November 18th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

   That’s why we hafta turn up the heat until they begin to feel it !!!!!!

   I don’t know much about Mr. Grossman, but a one-term limit for DiVecchio looks better all the time!

   I think perhaps the DA needs a wake-up call, too, given the judgement calls he’s blown lately.