Judge threatens to block opening of new Duval courthouse Read more at Jackson

[fsujax]

Frankly, I am gettig tired of hearing those in the Mayors office and the Mayor himself and their "we're trying to save the taxpayers money" crap.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Maybe they should eliminate all of the chairs, desks and tables and just pay DVI to keep a staff member around to shuffle temporary seating areas around as required.  This makes the most sense to me.

[urbanlibertarian]

I, for one, applaud the mayor for working hard to preserve our shrinking stock of historic courthouse furniture.  Why not restore it instead of demolishing it?  At the very least, let's mothball it until an investor can be found to restore it to the glorious beauty it had in the 60's.

Sorry.  Couldn't resist.

[tufsu1]

Frankly, I am gettig tired of hearing those in the Mayors office and the Mayor himself and their "we're trying to save the taxpayers money" crap.

well most in jax. seem to like it....Mayor Brown has a 75% approval rating!

[fsujax]

yes I know, I like him too, but tired of hearing it.

[copperfiend]

Maybe they should eliminate all of the chairs, desks and tables and just pay DVI to keep a staff member around to shuffle temporary seating areas around as required.  This makes the most sense to me.

Maybe they could just bring in the homeless and they could be human furniture. Similar to the ones in the Paula Abdul scene in Bruno. It would be cheaper than opening a daytime shelter.

[Dog Walker]

Much larger facility, for starters. Also have to factor in the life span of furniture in the current building. Wonder if any of our commenters who have care to share thoughts on the condition of existing furniture.

Channel 25 had a segment on the news this evening about this issue.  They showed pictures of the existing furniture.  It was pretty grotty in the clip they showed.  Don't know if it was especially selected but they should a pretty big sample.  The stuff was tired!

Moran may have a good point.

[ChriswUfGator]

Much larger facility, for starters. Also have to factor in the life span of furniture in the current building. Wonder if any of our commenters who have care to share thoughts on the condition of existing furniture.

Channel 25 had a segment on the news this evening about this issue.  They showed pictures of the existing furniture.  It was pretty grotty in the clip they showed.  Don't know if it was especially selected but they should a pretty big sample.  The stuff was tired!

Moran may have a good point.

Well, yeah, but that's only half the problem. They already said they'd just get the old stuff refinished and re-use it again if they had to. They already conceded to that once. Then COJ reneged on the deal, now they're saying that they won't get any more furniture at all. This poses a problem of basic arithmetic; the new courthouse is 3X larger than the old one, so how are you supposed to fill 37 hearing rooms with 12 tables? I mean, like I said, is everybody supposed to sit indian-style on the floor? It's a ten-year odyssey and a $400mm boondoggle of a building, now that it's finished they're really worried about saving peanuts by refusing to put furniture in it? It's ludicrous.

COJ is just banking that the state will pay out to settle the debate, since the state is already required to furnish parts of the building under the courts budget. But I don't think they will, look who's governor. The city is really being asinine about the whole thing.

[duvaldude08]

Maybe they should eliminate all of the chairs, desks and tables and just pay DVI to keep a staff member around to shuffle temporary seating areas around as required.  This makes the most sense to me.

Maybe they could just bring in the homeless and they could be human furniture. Similar to the ones in the Paula Abdul scene in Bruno. It would be cheaper than opening a daytime shelter.

And It would be artistic as well! 

[Ralph W]

Ask any church in town for a loan. They all have these nice white folding tables and chairs to match. If it's good enough for FBC it's good enough for Judge Moran.

[mtraininjax]

The city is required by law to have a facility for the state funded court system to practice in, and Chris brings up a great point, the old courthouse is 1/3 the size. Yes, Moran and Day have some items that have been reupholstered, but do you really want to bring the old molded items into the new facility and have the mold spores floating around in air that you and I will have to breath when we go into the building?

Imagine having to go to the hospital for an airborne illness all because two Jackwagons (Brown and Hand) want to play chicken with our health in a building that we hope is around in another 50 years.

Oh, by the way, anyone read where the Downtown Library has a leak on the 4th floor from skylights and possible construction flaws? Arena, Library, Courthouse, does the city intentionally hire idiots to manage construction projects and review the work done? Do we find the pencil pusher to manage projects? The city is its own worst enemy, not the judges.

Frankly, I am getting tired of hearing those in the Mayors office and the Mayor himself and their "we're trying to save the taxpayers money" crap.

+10000

I still do not think neither he nor Hand know what the hell they are doing. The cheer leading and photo ops only re-enforces this to me. This is a public/private partnership, you know?

[Tacachale]

^On the one hand, this consistent emphasis on saving money sends a good message to the taxpayer and builds political capital that can be put toward other priorities, such as downtown development.

On the other, however, this requires that (1) the money "saved" isn't just robbing Peter to pay Paul and (2) that Brown actually gets those other priorities done. Cutting things just to cut them is problematic, especially if no other gains are being made beyond some nice photo ops and approval ratings. Methinks this little scuffle is bad juju.

[mtraininjax]

On the one hand, this consistent emphasis on saving money sends a good message to the taxpayer and builds political capital that can be put toward other priorities, such as downtown development.

Are they really saving tangible money or is it for show for the Times Union? In the end Brown will cave and Moran will too, as I stated, Brown is going to have Angela Corey crawl up and get comfortable for the next 2 years while she waits for her space. He does not need the DA pissed with him, with special prosecutors available to review an inexperienced office staff dealing with city issues.

[duvaldude08]

Well Houston there is a problem. Fire system not working properly. Could delay move! WTF REALLY? Brown has inherited a huge problem pass down by sir peyton.

[mtraininjax]

Brown has inherited a huge problem pass down by sir peyton.

WTF? Where has Brown and his staff been for the last year? Asleep at the wheel? Who is in charge of the project, surely Brown, and his infinite wisdom added someone with years of experience in the private sector to help manage the project so that this sort of issue would not happen?

Was having dinner last night and ran into a councilman who said they would have been willing to look at the furniture the Mayor wanted to put on the 7th floor, but not at the 11th hour. Planning is something Mayor Brown will and should look at for the remainder of his years in office, the show up and throw up mentality of his office will limit his years in office, if he continues down this road, and he has many more battles with government officials on the horizon.

From the Times Union article on this in the 5/24 paper:

But the City Council’s next leader said he was uneasy about project managers not having some hint of trouble earlier. “I just have to wonder how did this become a last-second issue that just comes up in the middle of a move,” said council President-designate Bill Bishop, an architect who has been part of a committee overseeing courthouse construction issues. He said the committee talked to project officials this month and didn’t hear any suggestions the building wouldn’t be ready. “I find it strange to hear that no one knew it was as serious a problem as it was,” Bishop said.