So what’s your guess? DiMora’s lunch tab? No, its not Jimmy. The county commissioners’ chauffer service? No, it’s not the commissioners. A county judge’s or a suburban Mayor’s campaign? No, it was not a campaign. The Republican Party of Cuyahoga County?????????????? BINGO!!!!!!
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights or lowlights for 2007.
POLITICAL WORK IS A CALLING
IN-HOUSE PHONE SYSTEM
$10,192.68
PARTY PROVIDED CELL PHONES
$4,193.15 (First 6 Months)
$6,059.00 (Last 6 Months)
TOTAL: $10,252.15
IN-HOUSE PHONE SYSTEM + CELL PHONES = $20,444.83
And you get pissed at Verizon for charging you roaming minutes? Maybe someone at RPCC Headquarters should be taking that annoying phone call from AT&T about switching plans for a better rate.
RENT: AND YOU DON’T EVEN GET SNAPPY SHOW TUNES
RENT AND UTILITIES
$19,729.67 (First 6 Months)
$20,179.29 (Last 6 Months)
TOTAL: $39,908.96
Well you know downtown D.C. rent is just astronomical. Oh, wait we are in downtown Cleveland, not D.C. A downtown that can not fill office space to save its life. You would think with the mortgage crisis the media keeps going on about we could get a sweet deal and buy a place. When you buy it, you don’t have to pay rent. Hmmm… At least it has ample parking, oh wait…
PARK IT!
PARKING PASSES
$3,450.00 (First 6 Months)
$3,725.00 (Last 6 Months)
TOTAL: $7,175.00
There is ample downtown parking. Or at least that’s what they tell the ward leaders when they have to trek down their for a meeting. Costs range from $.25/hr for a meter to $25 for a parking ticket and everything in between. Hopefully there is a Cavs or Indians game too. It is so ample that we pay for it. Funny thing is they work right next to tower city which has a rapid stop and a set of bus stops right in front of the building. Let’s see $75 per monthly pass X 12 months X 3 people = $2,700. A savings of almost $5,000. I bet if we tell them this they would gladly save the party that money, heck they may even offer to pay for their own parking, if they’re not so inclined to take the bus, saving us even more!
DA DA DA DA DA DA - - - - CHARGE!
PARTY CREDIT CARD CHARGES
$7,620.00 (First 6 Months)
$7,300.00 (Last 6 Months)
TOTAL: $14,920.00
You thought your teenager was bad? Yes, while it is wise to keep little Susie away from Legacy Village with pa pa’s American Express, you may want to keep your RPCC children under just as tight of a leash.
WORKIN’ 9 TO 5
SALARIES (Frost, Backiel, Cizmadia/Luketic)
$99, 849.75 (First 6 months)
$99, 935.44 (Last 6 months)
TOTAL: $199,785.19
Now you say, wait they work incredibly long hours, especially during campaign season. Never forget Confucius say, one man’s “work” is another man’s web surfing time.” Although they do put in long hours, what exactly is accomplished by them, what about down time when they are not directly in the midst of a campaign's height?
FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF $407,936.83
So we return to where we started. What is this money buying? This number is a most fruitful point of discussion. The point is, are you getting what you pay for? Or better yet, who is paying for this and why are they? What are they getting for it?
See my fellow members of King's court, a good blog post poses more questions than it answers. Champaign wishes and caviar dreams!
For the whole detailed RPCC Budget –
Click http://www.scribd.com/doc/9416914/RPCC-2007expenditures
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
wow, had no idea about this.
ReplyDeletei'm sure colleen grady could've used some of that cash
sounds more like they have Champagne wishes, caviar dreams and M/D 20-20 results.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the '07 and the latest election results countywide Frost should be ashamed to even take a check.
For that matter, the Central & Executive Committee's should both be ashamed for allowing spending like this for salaries and expenses when our candidates are often starving for money.
Yes, Grady could have used some cash, but also Trakas and Sutherland.
BTW, where is King? Hvae not seen any posts? Did Frost get him?
ReplyDeleteYou guys are so mean!
ReplyDeletefor example if the party moved its HQ, then that's fewer dollars in Sam miller's pocket. if the taxpayers and the party faithful dont take care of sam, who will?
Results, we don't need no stinking results.
ReplyDeleteI think King was abducted by aliens.
ReplyDeleteBanjo Bob thanks for your concern. I was out picking up chicks with Stuey for "Family Guy" and Eric Cardman from "South Park" when the aliens tried abducting us. Dennis Kookcinich was friends of theirs and came to rescue us. Just kidding - my pc has been down.
ReplyDeleteLet's assume this ridiculous amount of money is justified for salaries and operating expenses for the RPCC
On this great post by Dark Knight I have a couple questions that I know will not and cannot be answered truthfully...
What improvement has this money made to the RPCC internally?
How have these expenditures strengthened the RPCC at the county level?
In '07 and '08 Cuyahoga County elections we got our asses kicked on election day (judicial racesd also) - so how, or in what way, did spending this much money on salaries and expenses improve our results on election day?
With these expenses used for salaries and operations, how or what has the RPCC done to promote our conservative values or be considered relevant in Cuyahoga County?
The RPCC leadership has supported a forced sales tax increase for the proposed MedMart and sat silently while the City of Cleveland passed a Gay Registry. When area clergy circulated a petition against the Gay Registry - the RPCC played no role.
I believe a person should be compensated well for their work - but I also believe they need to justify their pay.
If anyone can show me the results, & not neccessarily election victories, spending +$400K on salaries and expenses is justifiable - I will be the first to vigorously defend the practice.