Washington - Mary Jo Kilroy, Franklin County Commissioner and the Democratic candidate in Ohio's 15th Congressional District, is once again under fire for the taxpayer- funded debacle known as the Huntington Park Stadium. The latest issue arose when it was learned that the plumber, contracted out of Pennsylvania and not Ohio due to the need "to employ reliable contractors...who will work effectively, on budget and in compliance with the law," made errors that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This echoes back to earlier this year, when the Columbus Dispatch reported Kilroy's preference for union contractors only, in which a judge had to block the contract because of Kilroy's bypassing the lowest bidder, who happened to be a nonunion employer.
In a story in today's Columbus Dispatch:
"...But a report obtained after The Dispatch filed a public-records request places blame on that plumber for as much as $200,000 in damage to Huntington Park. W.G. Tomko Inc., of Pennsylvania, was working without permission and without supervision in the affected section of the stadium, according to a memo Turner Construction sent commissioners Thursday. Turner said Tomko also failed to use proper shoring when it cut a trench and undermined a support column holding up 27 tons of steel and concrete on the stadium's west end.The support column sank 1 foot, causing beams to sag and cracking a concrete second-story floor for the clubhouse offices." (Columbus Dispatch, July 2, 2008)
"Mary Jo Kilroy's special interest payback continues to burden her constituents with higher costs and wasteful spending," said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. "She continues to put her own selfish political interests before the interests of Franklin County residents and as a result, we are getting a first-hand look at incompetence in action. She claims she wants to change Washington, but Mary Jo Kilroy is only offering up is more of the same special interest favoritism and partisan politicking that has come to plague Washington D.C."
Mary Jo Kilroy needs to explain to the voters why she went with an out-of-state contractor who could hardly be considered to be "reliable," "effective," and "on budget." Franklin County voters deserve an explanation since they are the ones footing the bill for her political payout.
Delicious
Digg
Technorati
