Quincy Quarry Weekly Fish Wrap: Millions wise and millions more conversely foolish

– News covered by Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.

Dressed for the part …
A YouTube video still image

Quincy Quarry Weekly Fish Wrap: Millions wise and millions more conversely foolish.

And yes, the Koch Maladministration is yet again Q’ing up things.

After publishing an insightful four part series of working remotely-related tips given the COVID-19 pandemic over the long Labor Day holiday weekend as well as more recently not just one but two relationships features, Quincy Quarry News then rolled out two exposés of the latest dubious policy and spending initiatives by the Koch Maladministration.

Manna from the feds …
Image via

In one instance, the Koch Machine spun its spending of $5.5 million of local funds expected to eventually be reimbursed by the feds to both help local public schools continue to function via remote learning as well as endeavor to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus among students and school personnel and their respective families, friends, and others with whom they come into contact.

In turn, the gimlet-eyed financial analysts at Quincy Quarry News all but immediately spotted that roughly $4 million of the $5.5 million was spent on notebooks and support technology mostly last school year to facilitate remote learning and support home schooling activities unexpectedly imposed upon often already harried parents.

Hitting the fan come wintertime?
A Lasko fan photo

Further spotted, of the remaining $1.5 million, roughly but $500,000 was spent on personal protection equipment and virus cleaning materiel with the remaining million expended on addressing classroom air quality.

Given twenty separate school department buildings of varying sizes, figure on little more than putting fans in classrooms which will not do much good during the mostly colder days of a typical school year and changing out existing HVAC system filters.

As a point in contrast, the comparably-sized Worcester MA public school district is spending $15 million to dramatically upgrade its schools’ HVAC systems air quality filtration capabilities.

“We are not amused.”
An old Facebook image

Conversely, Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch was concurrently at least temporarily rebuffed by the City Council for an all but unprecedented change on his ask for a 280% increase in his proposed budget for the renovation of a building bought from Eastern Nazarene College late last year for conversion into a Special Education facility for children on the Autism Spectrum.

In short, the road to financial perdition is paved with touted good intentions.

As recently as just last November, the point person from the Koch Maladministration said renovation costs would run between $4 million and $5 million and would be completed by no later than the start of school in the fall of 2021 in spite of but a couple of months earlier asserting that the building could be ready by the start of school this fall.

Up in smoke?
Image via cheatsheet.com

Now, however, the ask is for $14 million and will require a twenty month construction schedule, meaning completion perhaps actually happening in time for the start of the 2022/2023 school year.

While an eye-popping as well as would be a record-setting cost overrun among the many all but invariably budget busting as well as often running late koched-up initiatives, this one is further eye-opening for a variety of additional reasons. 

No problem – not my money …
An Easy Money Associates/Orion Pictures

For but one example, the seller of the building to the City of Quincy had had the property on the market for at least a couple of years but had no takers until Mayor Koch opted to make yet another generous purchase of property on the come for still at best often but perhaps pending projects in the future to relatively distant future.

Then again, given that the mayor has both a serious spending habit as well as an Edifice Complex which both rely on taxpayers’ money, these latest events ultimately come as no great surprise to anyone at Quincy Quarry News or those among its ever-growing legions of loyal readers.

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