It is really easy to write a short and damning letter to make one’s point, but the details will eventually rise up through the cracks in a story if one is willing to look. According to a recent letter, John Stossel uncovered a shocking example of how the government wastes your money. It is the tale of two public restrooms were one is located in a public park in New York City and the other located in a private park of the same city and the cost to repair and renovate them.

Except I found that it is not a fair comparison. The costs for the restrooms located in a city park was a complete rebuild meaning a tear down, hauling away and building a new public restroom from the bottom up it was estimated to cost the city $2.6 million, they were able to get it completed for $2 million. It should be noted the reason why it had to be done, the park was damaged when Hurricane Sandy hit New York. The park is just one of many public parks the city takes care of.

This was not the only example given. The VA hospital in Denver, CO. was another example. This is the history of the project, Congress wanted to have the Denver VA hospital to occupy the top two floors of a large hospital located at a university, that way they would have access to equipment and services without having to buy more. Veteran groups did not like that plan at all they wanted their own stand alone building and this is were the cost began to rise and it took ten years to complete. There were delays, price of the land, increase in steel prices, changes in elected officials and management companies, flooding and the removal of a buried swimming pool. Do you want to be the one to tell the veterans they can not have what they want in a hospital for veterans?

My favorite example was the U.S. Congressional Visitor Center. What turned into a new, larger and much needed larger visitor center to the Capital Building grew to be a three floor underground extension to the Capital Building. Anyone who has ever decided to expand their living space can easily relate to how the price increases with more wishes added to the “wish list”. It also did not help the cost any that around the time they broke ground for the new extension 9/11 happened and Congress wanted new security measures to be installed also. It was a small extension that grew into a major addition.

These projects are bid on by contractors who do these projects for the government. They “low ball” the cost in order to get Congress to agree to have it done. In order for Congress to say they built a hospital for veterans they are going to have to cough up the extra money to get it completed. This is common, accepted practice between contractors and the government. This is what we the people find unacceptable, this practice of ‘low balling’ the cost and then increasing the costs of the final product and this practice is not limited to construction projects. Do you really not want to replace damaged, unsafe public restrooms or build a hospital for veterans or a secure, accommodating center for visitors to our seat of power in order to visit our representatives and tell them what we think in person? We just want to know exactly what it will cost us, up front, not after it has begun to be built.

Charles Reeder

Montoursville

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom