$4,000 for eight bricks: your government at work

[The Straight Story]

$4,000 for eight bricks: your government at work
BY JAMES GELUSO, Californian staff writer
[e-mail] | Saturday, Sep 27 2008 12:00 PM

Last Updated: Monday, Sep 29 2008 7:28 AM

When Richard Jennings got home from vacation and discovered one of his tree limbs fell and broke a wall, it looked like no big deal.

It was just eight and a half bricks, a few narrow caps.

“I said, ‘I’ll get it fixed’,” Jennings recalled telling city officials. “They then said it’s the city’s wall.”

So Jennings had no choice: the city had to have it fixed and bill him. It took crews about an hour, he figured.

It cost him a whopping $4,142.

That’s $3,437 for the city’s contractor, $83 for equipment and labor for the city, and $622 for the city’s “administrative costs.”

He asked some guys working down the street how much they thought it would cost. They said maybe $500, he said.

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/564098.html

[Speck Tater]

1. Makes you wonder how many bricks $700 billion will buy. NT

[PVnRT]

2. Local corruption

Someone in City Hall or on the council accepted a ridiculous bid from a contractor. I would take that bill to the next council meeting and raise hell.