A proposed new building could give Quincy College a permanent home.  The lastest Koch Maladaminstration’s Edifice Complex.  A City of Quincy rendering.

– News about Quincy from Quincy Quarry News.

Shady characters
A Warner Brothers masterpiece

Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch’s latest Edifice Complex receives pushback by the Quincy City Council.

Needless to say, Quincy Quarry was shocked, shocked.

In what was quite of surprise out of the all but invariably invertebrate supermajority of the also all but invariably accomodating Quincy Council, at least four councillors expressed varying levels of questions and concerns about this latest mayoral nine-figure spending grift.

Any idea how we’re gonna get outta this one Moe?
A Columbia Pictures image

Even more remarkable, as many as three other councillors were arguably keeping their options open as well as tukas covered by feigning positions of looking forward to gathering more information and undertaking additional discussions.

In other words, duck and cover, slip out the back Jack, assess constituents’ rancor, etc.

Further, even the always obliging of the mayor meeting chair and the usual tool on a stool offered up less than their usual gushing obsequiousness for any and all mayoral megabucks spending requests.

Will wonders ever cease?

The pay sucks at the Quarry but the free beverages almost make up for it
A file photo

Then again, the Koch Maladministration’s presentation fell well short of its usual tap-dancing shuck and jive, at least as far the gimlet-eyed, as well as gimlet drinking, song and dance critics on Quincy Quarry’s Performing Arts desk, were concerned.

Key to this review of the performance is that the mayor’s chorus line of tap dancers were not on their toes even if at least one of them is light in the loafers.

Then again, after years of getting its way against way less than weak resistance from the overmatched City Council, the Koch Machine’s aging ingénues are out of practice at hitting their marks, not to mention that their acts got old a long time ago – a wicked long time ago.

Additionally, their skills at sleight of hand while playing The Three Shell Game were slower than an arthritic knitter.

follow the money. ALWAYS follow the money
An oxycom.com image

That and sloppy.  Wicked sloppy.

First up, the latest President of Quincy College, the fifth one in recent years, talked up how things were looking to be (potentially, ed.) be improving for Quincy College and that the proposed plan behind the funding ask would be primarily providing a city-owned home for Quincy College would be a great benefit to the college even if it does not provide any discernable additional new benefit(s) of any real consequent for the community.

Try to follow the card …
A file photo

Upon questioning, however, at least becomes clear that, among other things, that the rosy scenario financial projections for the college’s future operational performance were not only likely optimistic, they were also pimped by the Koch Administration’s plans to impose upwards of $5 million of the college’s annual expenses which it is supposed to fully fund from its tuition revenue onto local taxpayers instead.

A long-suffering local taxpayer
A file photo

In turn, while also unmentioned, a $5 million increase in the city’s annual budget spending works out to a roughly $125 increase on the average local homeowner’s tax bill.

On the other hand, the college will need the $5 million as the proposed plan from Mayor Koch to provide the college with a permanent home would result in the college paying rent on its proposed new home will upwards of triple or more the amount of rent that the college currently pays for its leased space in Presidents Place office building in Quincy Center.

And on an even further down note, there was no response from Team Koch members when asked what might be contingency planned if the college were not able, or even still around, to pay rent in the proposed building.

Burn baby burn!
Image via cheat-sheet.com

And then there was the usual blather out of the usual so-called outside advisor who is actually an insiders’ insider droned on and on talking bland boilerplate.

Even more disingenuous was his failure to float a total project cost for building a sixteen story building, and which would be the tallest building in Quincy, even though he is an engineer by profession.

Conversely, Quincy Quarry’s Construction and Real Estate Development desk was able to quickly as well as validly project that total cost of the proposed project would likely run north of $200 million in total, if not a lot more than 200 large.

At the same time, the Quarry’s cost projections do not include the cost of new carpeting for a concurrently planned new mayoral office suite and are thus to be likely conservative cost projections.

Cash and carry, cash leaves no trail – whatever …
A file photo

Next up at this dog and pony show, the designated executor for glass New City Hall talked up how it would cost upwards of $20 million dollars to renovate it as the justification for building a new City Hall on a site which the mayor is proposing to buy at a sweet price as well as so yet again do a generous backer an even more generous solid. 

No acknowledgment, however, was made that the space planned for a new City Hall within the mayor’s proposed now mission crept up in height to sixteen stories tall building from the fifteen stories originally proposed, much less than the fact the proposed new space for City Hall operations would run in the range of $65 million, over three times what redoing the current building would cost. 

Granted, the new space would be larger and potentially longer-lived, however, at over three times as much cost, not to mention creating more space for even more hack hires, it is unarguably more costly no matter how the Koch Machine might care to spin things.

At least someone loves Pinnochio<br/>An old Facebook photo

And speaking of failed spin, Koch Machine spinmeister Pinocchio Walkbacker phoned it in.  Lazy cocky phoned it in.

Of particular note, at no point in the presentation did any Team Koch members address parking needs for the proposed building.

So what if parking in Quincy Center has long been a problem – except for City Hall VIP’s and its various hack hires, that is.

In any event, Quincy Quarry’s Parking Desk was able to quickly discern that per local building codes that the proposed building would require a parking facility capacity comparable to that of the somewhat recently completed and nearby $46 million Hancock Parking Garage.

That and even the Quarry’s latest intern was able to see that executing the whole of the plan would wreak havoc for years on the operations of the already problematic Quincy Center MBTA station and which is the T’s busiest facility south of Boston, if not also lasting problems given the boxing-in of the T to be able to eventually effect a long-overdue renovation of the woefully decrepit current station.

Trying out an ensemble for when Quincy College awards him an honorary Associates Degree?
A Quincy Quarry FotoShop Fun Team meme

But what the hey, Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch is surely looking to see a legacy enhancing edifice to affix his name happen, most especially on what would be the tallest building in town, and so memorialize most likely Quincy’s most vertically-challenged mayor.

Then again, whatever Tommy wants, Tommy tends to get.

This time, however, maybe not.

Needless to say, count on Quincy Quarry to follow this still-evolving story. 

For example, how this latest grift would do a generous fellow traveler of the mayor a wicked way more generous solid in return.

That and perhaps an architectural review of the bombast collection of architectural cliches which are proposed to be thrown together in a banal amalgam of faux historicity.  At this point, about all that is missing is that apparently will not be any ivy-covered walls on the proposed home of Quincy College.

Source: Quincy city councilors pitched on the future home of Quincy College, city hall

QQ disclaimer