Posted on 06/26/2005 4:12:56 PM PDT by NewMediaFan
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A major contributor to Gov. Rod Blagojevich (Dem.) has received a half a million dollars in contracts for cleaning work that experts say is unnecessary or could be performed less expensively by state employees. In one case, PWS Environmental Inc. got more than $7,000 to clean a brand-new, unused dome built to store road salt and apply a corrosion-resistant concrete sealer - duplicating work the dome's builder performed just months before, according to documents and Associated Press interviews.
Over the past five years, the Cicero firm has made political contributions totaling $65,000, mostly to Democrats. It has been hired by the state to wash road-salt domes, office buildings, bridges, rest area structures and Illinois Department of Transportation trucks, although state-owned equipment could be used for the work.
IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey said one reason the department hired the company to wash corrosive salt from bridges rather than assigning state employees to do the work is that the agency is understaffed because of budget cuts. He said IDOT was cleaning salt storage domes to cut deterioration and extend the domes' lives.
Richard Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute trade organization, said he had never heard of washing a concrete-and-wood salt dome. "I'm having a hard time envisioning why you would do it," he said.
--snip---
Mike Rippel, another former IDOT engineer, said he sometimes hired private companies to clean bridges but his crews handled most of them - and never washed salt domes. He said only two domes had to be replaced during his tenure and that was because they were too small, not deteriorated.
"It may be a good idea, but in all my years nobody ever mentioned washing the inside of a dome," Rippel said.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.tbo.com ...
I thought the corruption was bad down here in South Texas. Illinois takes the cake I'm affraid to say.
$500k - just a tiny taste in Illinois.
You have no idea.
I recently left a job where I ran a big office that did state work... Needless to say, my "W04" sticker wasn't welcome in the office parking lot.
I was "no long needed" shortly after Bush's win.
business as usual for DUMS.
I'm sure the honorable hero of the liberals, Barack Obama, will speak out against this abuse of power.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED that this corruption is occurring, to the benefit of Democrats, in the home state of Chicago.
Texas has nothing on IL and NJ
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