Posted on 02/24/2011 6:18:39 AM PST by La Lydia
Faced with a growing uproar, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown announced Tuesday that he will relinquish a taxpayer-funded luxury SUV - one of two the city ordered on his behalf in recent months. But it is unclear whether the gesture will save District taxpayers any money. "I regret that I appeared insensitive to the financial challenges our city and residents face," Brown (D) said in a statement. He called the two, $2,000-a-month leases "an unacceptable use of city funds."
The Washington Post reported Sunday that city officials ordered Brown two Lincoln Navigator L SUVs with moonroofs, GPS navigational systems and upgraded wheels - vehicles that retail for more than $60,000 so equipped. A solicitation issued by the city's Department of Public Works in November specified the luxury appointments "for the Chairman's request," according to e-mails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
When the first SUV arrived shortly before Christmas, Brown rejected it because the interior color was light gray instead of the black he had specified. He said in Tuesday's statement that he understood that the vehicle "would be returned to the leasing company at no cost to the District." But the city had accepted the vehicle as is, and it remains in the city fleet at $1,769 a month. A second vehicle was procured for Brown, at $1,963 a month plus a $1,500 charge to deliver it in time for his inauguration....
With debate brewing on how to close a budget shortfall of $400 million or more, the vehicles sparked outrage among some of the 10 candidates vying to fill the at-large council seat Brown vacated in January....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And the upkeep, the insurance, the gas is all paid for by the taxpayers. He does not have to pay a cent for this. Belive me, he will give this vehicle up, but there will be another one for him to use.
Yup. He says he didn’t know how much it cost to lease the car.
What a dope.
This genius is the chairman of the DC City Council.
DC government is a criminal enterprise. If it were a person, it couldn’t shut a door.
Duh!
Yesterday’s WSJ had this story saying the mayor of DC (also a Donk) supported Mr. Brown.
The mayor also has a leased Lincoln Navigator AND a leased Lincoln Town Car.
Ain’t big government grand ?
Not to worry, he'll be reelected anyway.
As amusing as this story is - one SUV didn’t have the right interior, so he needed another one.....
I find it amusing that nobody seems to question the nearly $2,000/mo lease per vehicle.
You can bet that wasn’t competitively bid.
For a brief period of time they had a half-way decent mayor (a black guy who WASN’T a race hustler) who was trying to fix the schools and whose administration was fairly scandal free. But he was defeated by another incompetent crook in the last election. Business as usual since home rule in DC.
Apparently not crooked or scum enough for the lousy politicians in DC.
Actually he was defeated by the education union who backed his successor...it was payback for firing tenured do nothing educators in his attempt to reform the dept of edu in DC...this is the same scummy lobby that Wisconsin is fighting we must break the nea stranglehold on the public purse strings
To top it off the “leasing company” is probably owned by one of his relatives. There is no end to unethical, immoral politicians...is there?
A little bit of the, “Hell, no, I ain’t workin’ at Mickey D’s! Minimum wage? Bullsh*t!” attitude, while receiving welfare benefits. Just makes me sick, no matter what color.
Colonel, USAFR
Don’t laugh, I think the previous mayor did have one of those.
Yes. To get technical, the teachers’ union ensured that Vincent Gray defeated Adrian Fenty. Two steps forward, 10 steps back, schools circling the drain. DC is a Detroit wanna-be.
Faced with a growing uproar, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown announced Tuesday that he will stop “making it rain the big faces” at strip clubs.
Yet another example of the most poorly governed municipality in the nation.*
*: Okay, maybe tied with Detroit, and Philadelphia, and Chicago, and Baltimore, and....
And I thought Kwame Brown used to play for the Wizards?
Oh, good point. That would bring the story into "This is a parody, right?" territory ... except that DC brought us the government staffer fired for his correct use of "niggardly." They're beyond parody.
Maybe everyone knew all along what "niggardly" meant, and they were truly offended by the concept of not spending as much taxpayer money as humanly possible in the allotted time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.