What do the new Jamestown Bridge and the renovation of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center have in common? They’re merely two of the biggest hummers to be foisted on Vo Dilun’s great unwashed taxpayers.
As you may recall, construction of the Jamestown Bridge set a record for cost overruns, for which the Biggest Little’s citizens had to pony up, because we (the state, that is) didn’t do the legal work to make the contractors liable for this gouging. It looks like the same thing is happening again.
The Dunk renovations were supposed to cost $62 million. Now, the price has grown by 24 percent, and taxpayers are being asked to bear the burden of a $15 million cost overrun.
You have to wonder who is in charge. We already faced a $360 million state budget shortfall, exacerbated by the State House boneheads and the non-arrival of $80 million from a settlement.
Like the Big Oil people who now blame their price-gouging on refinery breakdowns — including a squirrel in one of the plants, which doesn’t even pass the laugh test — the Convention Center Authority points at Hurricane Katrina, the modern all-purpose excuse, and even the use of steel and concrete for development in China and India. Talk about a stretch.
Here are the facts, as printed in the Sunday Urinal, and acknowledged by the Convention Center Authority. Can you say “lame,” boys and girls?
• The primary design consultant experts hired by the authority, Ellerbe Becket, misread the state fire code;
• The size of the new luxury suites and food court were miscalculated;
• The amount of steel needed to meet building codes for hurricanes and earthquakes was misread;
• Proper drawings to show telephone and electric lines weren’t present.
This is sheer incompetence and a lack of accountability. Guess who’s left with the tab while our ace consultants go back to their cubicles? All of us.
What a bunch of suckers we all are. It’s time to go Dumpster-diving for the money, P&J suspect. Where’s the Gerb when we need him?
Cape fear
The super-savvy public presumes that P&J simply detest everyone at the editorial pages of the Urinal. This assumption is completely wrong, save, of course, for the departed “Faux Phil” Terzian and his able replacement, the Buddy-fixated “Fast Eddie” Achorn, yet it does persist.
To squelch this, P&J hereby plug a new book by our longtime friend Bob Whitcomb, BeloJo ed page editor and VP, and long-time journalist Wendy Williams (no relation to the late Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics, the Mohawk-haired “Queen of Shock Rock,” although Whit, contrarian that he is, probably would have had more fun writing the book with the wondrous and dearly departed WOW).
The book, Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound (PublicAffairs Books), was published earlier this month. It got a nice little pre-review from Donna Seaman in Booklist. In a starred review, Seaman writes: “This true-life tale of a blinding love of place, outrageously irresponsible propaganda, shameful congressional maneuvering, and egregious social injustice is half farce, half political thriller, and altogether compelling.”
Most people are aware of the battle raging over wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, which began in 2001. The BeloJo has frequently reported and editorialized on the saga. Given the run-ins the developers have had with Massachusetts pols, like presidential wannabe and water enthusiast Ted Kennedy, the tale is bound to match its praise in Booklist as the contretemps continues. Congrats, Mr. Whitcomb.
