The Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) issued a "report" today regarding the costs of cleaning and repairing the state's capitol after weeks of protests earlier this spring.
You may recall that the head of that agency, Mike Huebsch, initially cited estimates of 7.5 million dollars in damage to the building when testifying at a court hearing, a figure that was immediately ridiculed by most Wisconsinites.The ridicule turned to howls of laughter when it was learned that the estimate was based solely on this:
Huebsch later changed the estimate to about 350 thousand dollars, and promised to issue a report with detailed estimates last month. That often-delayed report was finally released today. One local TV station has the text of the DOA press release published on their site.
Huebsch must be embarrassed by the new figure (still only an estimate):
The preliminary estimate for repairs to the Capitol and Capitol grounds is $269,550.
I'll print the entire press release below, but the reason I sense Huebsch's embarrassment is that he titles the press release Preliminary Law Enforcement and Repair Estimates for State Capitol. See what he did there? He bundled the costs of repairs with unrelated law enforcement costs to trigger Fox-Newsy headlines like "Capitol Protests Cost 8 Million Dollars."
Again, these are estimates, but they claim that the cost of bringing in all the extra security was $7,819,665.00. Repairs to the capitol? Not so much.
In other news, Bill Gates and Giles Goat Boy have a net worth of just over 56 billion dollars.
Nice math, huh? What a tool. He doesn't mention that most of the extra law enforcement presence was completely unnecessary and that officers spent most of the time simply chatting with what had to be the most congenial mob of protesters in history.
Just to ward off that criticism, though, the Walker administration timed this release with the release of scary stories alleging that almost 100 threats of violence against Walker and Wisconsin legislators (most of the threats obviously benign) were received in response to Walker's union-busting tactics. See, they really needed all that extra security. Or maybe not:
Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, received at least 14 threats investigated by agents, nearly as many as Walker. Erpenbach said he never felt in danger, but he was concerned for his children and staff. He said he believes the threats do not justify the security crackdown at the Capitol, including locked entrances and metal detectors.
One thing Walker didn't highlight is that, just as predicted, he and his henchmen in the legislature are going to end collective bargaining rights for police and firefighters after initially exempting them from the changes. I guess he decided he doesn't need them any more. Or maybe he's pissed that they knew all along they'd be next and joined the protests from the beginning.
Here is the release from The Wisconsin DOA:
Preliminary Law Enforcement and Repair Estimates for State Capitol
MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Administration today released preliminary estimates for law enforcement, clean up and repair costs associated with sustained demonstrations at the State Capitol in February and March. In total, the preliminary total of law enforcement and repair costs is $8,089,215 for the time period of February 14, 2011 through March 13, 2011.
Law enforcement services associated with the demonstrations at the Capitol total approximately $7,819,665. This figure is preliminary, as the Department has not received all invoices from local law enforcement agencies. Nor has the Department audited or paid any invoices.
Law enforcement during the demonstrations was provided by the Capitol Police, Wisconsin State Patrol, University of Wisconsin Police Department, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Justice, and local law enforcement agencies.
Capitol Police, $458,406: This figure represents only staffing costs such as overtime and staffing beyond that which would be incurred on a typical day by the Capitol Police. On a typical day, Capitol Police has approximately 14 staff on duty at the Capitol.
Local Law Enforcement, $3,904,919: The Department signed a memorandum of understanding with 202 of law enforcement agencies from across the state to provide additional staffing at the Capitol. The MOU calls for the Department to reimburse local law enforcement for wages (including overtime and benefits), mileage, lodging, damage to equipment or clothing, and medical expenses arising while providing assistance. Thirty-two law enforcement agencies who have signed MOUs have not submitted reimbursement claims yet. This figure represents expenses submitted by these agencies.
Other State Agencies, $3,034,088: The Wisconsin State Patrol, University of Wisconsin Police Department, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Justice provided personnel at the Capitol to assist with law enforcement needs. The Department asked these agencies to submit to it only staffing costs such as overtime and staffing beyond that which would have been incurred on a typical day. This figure represents expenses reported by these agencies.
Additional Supplies and Services, $422,252: Some miscellaneous costs were incurred by the Capitol Police during the demonstrations that will be paid by the Department. Capitol Police provided food to county and municipal law enforcement officers and support staff who were there to provide security and unable to leave their posts for extended periods of time. Other examples of miscellaneous products and services include: ear buds for the officers’ radios because there was too much noise in the building to use the speaker/handset attached to their uniform, on-site health checks for officers who worked long periods of time, and security for the parking lots where the municipal police parked their vehicles which contained expensive communications equipment and possibly weapons.
CAPITOL CONDITION ASSESSMENT:
The preliminary estimate for repairs to the Capitol and Capitol grounds is $269,550.
In March, the Department hired Charles Quagliana, a historical architect who participated in the Capitol renovation completed in 2004, to assess the condition of the Capitol and recommend remedies. Mr. Quagliana surveyed the stone surfaces in the public areas of the Capitol which include Kasota and Mankato stone, granite, syenite and marble. He examined the surfaces for tape, tape residue, magic marker and other foreign marks, as well as for new nicks and chips in the stone. Mr. Quagliana did not examine the stone or other items like furniture or carpeting in individual offices or legislative chambers as demonstrations did not generally occur in those areas.
In his report, Mr. Quagliana notes, “Essentially, the building experienced 3-5 years of wear within a two week period of late February and early March, 2011.”
Mr. Quagliana recommends using a custom poultice to remove marker and other foreign stains from the stone. He expects this will take between 80-100 hours. Mr. Quagliana also recommends using a skilled mason with expertise in specific stone materials to repair nicks and chips. He expects this will take about 200-250 hours. Finally, Mr. Quagliana recommends using semi-skilled workers to clean the marble. He expects this work to take about 3,500-4,000 hours.
In addition, the preliminary total includes ongoing repair costs related to the demonstrations for items such as broken doors and window frames, as well as overtime costs for additional custodial work.
The preliminary estimate does not include costs for some additional cleaning identified in the report because it predates the demonstrations. The estimate also does not include costs associated with the noted wear on the building that may require future repairs. For instance, during the demonstrations, the building’s HVAC system ran nearly non-stop, a volume it was not designed for, shortening its useful life.
Interior Repair, $161,050: Based on Mr. Quagliana’s recommendations, repair work to the stone in the Capitol is expected to cost approximately $111, 750. Estimated hourly wages for a custom poultice, skilled mason, and semi-skilled workers to do the work are about $50, $120, and $21.40, respectively.
In addition, to date, about $49,300 has been expended for ongoing repairs ($3,100), additional custodial services ($30,500), professional photography to prepare for the assessment ($1,900), and Mr. Quagliana’s assessment ($13,800).
Exterior Repair, $108,500: Repairs will be made to the lawn and a limited number of shrubs and trees will need to be replaced. A planned project to upgrade the sprinkler system on the lawn is not included in this cost estimate. All repair work will be bid out. The bulk of the work will take place in August or later so as not to disrupt planned events on the Capitol Square this summer.
Updated by Giles Goat Boy at Fri May 13, 2011 at 02:30 PM CDT
I updated the diary to link to a PDF of the actual report from the architect. Not only is the cost estimate much lower than previous estimates, the architect notes that much of the cleaning "can be associated with both cyclical maintenance needs and the need to carefully, appropriately and effectively remove marker,tape, other residues..."
In other words, the walls were due for a cleaning, anyway.
The architect's report is very detailed, but he says that "essentially, the building experienced 3-5 years of wear in a two-week period," most of that from nicks and chips on the column corners from briefcases, backpacks, handbags, carts, and wheelchairs.
The estimate also includes charges for cleaning some streaking on the stone caused by cleaning done in the 1960s or 1970s when grout work was being done.
