Politics: Economy
Kempthorne Spent $235K Remodeling Bathroom
Monogrammed towels, fridge and freezer included
By Jill Kuraitis, 1-05-09
The Washington Post has a report today about outgoing Interior Secretary andformer Idaho Gov. and Senator Dirk Kempthorne spending about $235K to renovate his office bathroom.
If Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) is confirmed this month as interior secretary, he’ll have a snappy, scarcely used bathroom in his fifth-floor office, thanks to Dirk Kempthorne, the outgoing secretary.
Seems Kempthorne spent about $235,000 in taxpayer funds renovating the bathroom a few months ago, which included installing a new shower, a refrigerator and a freezer and buying monogrammed towels, department officials told our colleague Derek Kravitz.
The General Services Administration approved and partially funded the project, an Interior Department official said. The GSA paid about half the cost to refurbish aging plumbing, which needed to be replaced within four years.
But department officials say much of the money was spent on lavish wood paneling and tile. Among the choice items found in the new bathroom: wainscot wood panels extending from floor to ceiling and cabinet doors revealing a working refrigerator and freezer.
What is it with Idaho Republicans and bathrooms?
[End of article]
I can totally see why Kempthorne needed to spend a quarter million dollars for his private office bathroom.
Those Idaho Republicans need special-ordered "wide-stance" toilets, which aren't cheap.
And you never know when Larry Craig might pop by and need to use the facilities.
-Jon Cheever
Boy, if Joe the Plumber got in on this one, his troubles would be over.
Comment By paul, 1-05-09Maybe he got one of those $20,000 toilet seats we have all heard about but never seen.
Comment By Julie Fanselow, 1-05-09It's really too bad this story didn't break in Idaho a few hours earlier. It would have made for an interesting question when DK addressed the City Club of Boise, where - as it was - he had to handle a few other toughies.
Comment By Mickey Garcia, 1-05-09Dirkee Baby!! You da man!! You da pimp!!
Comment By Christian Probasco, 1-06-09$235K would buy three houses here in Mt. Pleasant, UT.
A refrigerator? A freezer? What about a stove and a microwave? Better hire a full-time chef, too. And an FBI agent to watch the chef.
No freakin way!?! How is that even possible..... few months ago?
He knew he was leaving right?
I guess Salazar will have some where nice to put his ridiculous ten gallon hat while he's on the thrown.
Comment By Pawpawmac, 1-06-09As an 81 year old retired Texan, I , at last, see where all the taxes I've paid in my entire life has gone to some plutocrats s--- house. I feel so used. Does this include the t-paper?
Comment By pithkath, 1-06-09Are there any small government Republicans left? They claim to be, but keep spending and spending and spending and expanding the power of the federal government. No more borrow and spend Republicans!
Comment By bikeboy, 1-06-09Pawpawmac: Does this include the t-paper?
Not just ordinary toilet paper... special super-soft quilted toilet paper with the Department of Interior logo stamped onto each sheet!
"Public servants" deserve the very best!
I would guess that half the cost was labor, and that is high because it is mostly non-bid (the cost of security clearance is so high), supervised by the Architect of the Capitol, in an historic building. The planning, the attention to period detail, all would layer cost upon cost, as special made plumbing with all the modern water saving, environmentally correct doodads have to be constructed with the appearance of the old style that was in place when the Interior Building was built. You do know that D.C. is an expensive place to work just because of all the Homeland Security issues that have to be addressed. All the workers are vetted for trustworthiness. All have to have parking and check in and out of metal detectors and body searches, all the regular stuff. If you or I want to visit, we have to give 24 hours notice in most cases, and then have picture ID and a background check ahead of time. You just don't get past the guards and people in high places looking down on all the supplicants wanting to meet with officialdom. My guess is that productivity is less than half of what it would be on similar commercial remodeling, and a quarter of what is accomplished in residential building and remodeling.
All those lavatory facilities have intricate tile surfaces, ten foot tall doors with black walnut moldings, and lots of fine brass castings and porcelain surfaces. They are, after all, the headquarters for the management of a quarter of the land in the country. Each floor is devoted to an agency of Interior. It is not a mobile home, a triple wide, leased for 20 years to the US Govt GSA for offices in Scab Rock. There are lots of remodeled mansions in this country, apartments in NYC, condos in Florida, where a quarter million dollar bath remodel is just another hoo ha, and life goes on. If you want to see excess in buildings and cost, just visit US Courthouse construction costs. I was aghast at the costs incurred in the construction of the new US Courthouse in Portland and the one in Eugene. I believe the secure parking for the judges in Portland was more than a million dollars a car space. The building itself came to close to a half billion dollars with all the amenities and appropriated spaces, and the security boundaries and lost opportunity, all to have a secure building in the middle of the city downtown area. The judges have the final say so on every detail. It is designed to their approval, and built to include their amenities, for their safety, and to be a fortress at any time. Kempthorne, by their standards, is a piker. He is cheap.
Surely some of the cost has to go to bathroom monitors. I am not sure Idaho Republicans are allowed to go the bathroom alone anymore. They want to have adequate warning when the cops are running a sting.
Comment By First Last, 1-06-09How many people do you know who have a a refrigerator and a freezer in their BATHROOM??? I don't store food next to the place I take a dump at.
Comment By Mickey Garcia, 1-06-09If you're really poor, you do everything in one room in a five gallon bucket using plastic kitchen baggies.
Comment By rotorooter, 1-07-09maybe he just is full of crap and that is where he lives... give the man a break... he is a democrat right...
Comment By bearbait, 1-07-09Really, really poor and it is moot. The nothing in, nothing process.
Comment By Ruffian, 1-08-09I'd love the honor of flushing Dirk Kempthorne down the toilet.
The man if pure waste to me.
So what did the can look like before, and what did that cost in relative terms.
Never mind Davis-Bacon, and layers of architectural review and other whatnot, and Homeland Insecurity regulations? The monogram towels were what, fifty bucks?
I'm no fan of the Dirkster and the towels were a bit much but I can only imagine the difficulty of remodeling in an old building such as that. Asbestos removal, plumbing, all union labor, keeping the continuity of the building architectually, security, bring everything up to present codes, what a nightmere. To compare building new to remodeling in unrealistic. Think about remodels on your own home, the cost over runs and headaches incurred.
Comment By thedirtydemocrat, 1-14-09By the way, Dave, the towels were not monogramed.
Dirk was a joke as a governor and is a bigger joke as a Secretary of the Interior. He trashed Idaho's wilderness to put in a road to his hang out and not just any old road he had to make it wide enough for his head and crew of buddies.
No one in DC gets anything done economically, what would they have to brag about. Now he can say "My tolit cost more than yours"
Comment By Randy, 1-27-09I am permanently disabled, and my only sorce of income is SS Disability. I can barely make ends meet, and most of the time I am trying to stay ahead of collection agents. With the amount I receive each month to live on, this $230,000 would be 20 years of my benifits. So without hesitation, I must say the thought of this makes me ill. To think of the waste government does, if someone with half a consience and half a brain actually put a stop to the legal robbery our fine officials can get away with, we might have the funds needed to help real people. If these same Elected officials would also realize how much money many people must live on, and not think everyone is making $100,000 or more, they might think twice about what they spend, and where they spend it.
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