Kilroy "Twisting Contracting Rules"

Prefers Union Payouts at Taxpayer Expense to Fuel Campaign for Congress

Washington - It is no secret that Mary Jo Kilroy, Democratic candidate in Ohio's 15th Congressional District, has a penchant for union political payouts. Her ballpark boondoggle cost the taxpayers of Franklin County thousands of dollars because of her decision to hire an out-of-state contractor who ran up costs and ended up botching the job. Now, Kilroy is at it again. This time she has her sights set on a building used for Children Services.

The Columbus Dispatch reported today:

"Franklin County commissioners -- changing a practice that had been used for decades -- have killed a deal to relocate the rented offices, perched over a transmission-repair shop for the past 15 years.

"‘I've got to be honest, it doesn't look right from the outside,' Jonathan C. Beard, president of the Columbus Compact Corp., e-mailed Commissioner Paula Brooks... Besides Beard's neighborhood-development group, the team included architect James Linke and Ruscilli Construction -- a nonunion shop.

"...[Children Services Director Eric] Fenner said his staff members assumed that they would follow the contractor-selection process they had used for decades: Ask for bids and proposals, evaluate the deals, ask for their own board's approval and take the package to commissioners for a final vote.

"Mary Tebeau, president of Associated Builders and Contractors, said commissioners are twisting contracting rules ‘to benefit whomever the commissioners want to award contracts to.'" (Columbus Dispatch, July 8, 2008)

"Once again, Mary Jo Kilroy is using taxpayer-funded projects in order to solicit campaign contributions," said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. "After her ballpark boondoggle, you'd think she would shy away from her pay-to-play union racket. It is laughable that she has the audacity to ask FranklinCounty voters to send her to Washington so she can fritter away more of their hard earned money."

When will Mary Jo Kilroy stop using taxpayer-funded projects to fuel her campaign for Congress? Ohio voters deserve to have the best possible services for the least amount of money. They are already being forced to foot the bill for Kilroy's first blunder, will they have to foot the bill for the next one?