Amid growing outrage over one supervisor’s $707,000 office remodeling plan – including woolen carpets costing more than $50,000 – the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to reconsider the project.
The vote does not necessarily kill the plan by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to remodel his office, but places it under further review by the Chief Executive Office to determine the necessity.
Ridley-Thomas issued a statement saying he will order an “independent review to re-scope and re-evaluate the proposed project as deemed appropriate.”
“Pursuant to (Tuesday’s) vote, the CEO will review the condition of the workspace, including building code violations, other safety concerns and energy efficiency, and proceed consistent with board policy,” Ridley-Thomas said.
The board had voted Dec. 1 to approve the project, igniting a firestorm of protest by hundreds of residents who called and e-mailed the supervisors.
Residents said they were incensed by the “wasteful and unconscionable spending plan” at a time when people are losing their homes and jobs and government agencies are cutting public services.
Critics weren’t satisfied by Ridley-Thomas appearing to back off the project.
“It doesn’t sound as if this frivolous use of taxpayer dollars has really been killed,” said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. “The statement (by Ridley-Thomas) has so many weasel words in it that it’s not much more than meaningless gobbledygook.”
After the vote, Ridley-Thomas and board Chair Gloria Molina declined to comment, but Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said he’s glad Ridley-Thomas brought the motion – seconded by Molina – to refer the project to CEO Bill Fujioka for reconsideration.
“Many of us felt it was not appropriate, especially when we have many fiscal issues before us,” Antonovich said.
According to Ridley-Thomas’ Web site, portions of his 4,600 square-foot office have not been updated in five decades and the office has not been “substantially upgraded or repaired” in more than two decades.
The renovation work is not an “extravagant beautification program” but rather a project to “create adequate work space for our staff,” according to the Web site.
In the Dec. 1 board memo, Fujioka wrote the project would involve replacing carpet, floor tiles, lighting and interior woodwork, upgrading the air conditioning, relocating the kitchenette and buying new furniture.
But an Internal Services Department report obtained through a Public Records Act request showed that Ridley-Thomas planned to spend $50,520 on woolen carpet and $118,529 on woodwork. That included installing crown molding throughout the office, a walnut cabinet and walnut doors and a “walnut enclosure for TV in the supervisor’s office.”
“(The carpet) is for the entire 4,600 square feet,” a spokesman for Ridley-Thomas said. “That’s a lot of carpeting. And that’s how much was allocated, but not all of that necessarily was going to be spent.”
Chatsworth resident William Meck, owner of the William Edwards photography studio, said the remodeling project shows Ridley-Thomas is “out of touch” with the public.
“It was such a ridiculous amount of money to ask for,” Meck said.
“The whole thing is just infuriating. He has one of the poorest districts and to do that to the people who put him in office is like kicking them in the teeth. It looks like the other supervisors use their money to help the community, but he’s trying to put together some plush palace for himself.”
But according to Ridley-Thomas’ Web site, the amount of money originally proposed to be spent on the office construction work – less than half of his office’s community contributions – does not take away from funds for community support.
“As was my objective from the outset, we will continue to make service to the constituents of the Second District our top priority,” Ridley-Thomas said. “They deserve the very best that the county of Los Angeles has to offer and I intend to meet their expectations.”
