The SNAFU with the fire safety tests has called a halt to the move-in scheduled for the new courthouse. The State rules won't even allow a fire watch. So, the best they can come up with is a move BACK to the old courthouse until the all clear signal is given by the Fire Marshall. The wheels of justice are grinding to a halt.
To top it off, the powers that be are suggesting RENTING furniture so they can get back to work. WTF! Did they already throw out all that perfectly good furniture that has served so well for so many years?
What are the odds that the new, $750,000, furniture will arrive before the new courthouse is really ready?
Its a disaster to be sure.
Frankly I'm disappointed in the Brown administration, it shows a total lack of leadership that whoever was responsible for the asinine decision to shut the courts down and pack everything into trucks and haul it away before they'd received a CO for the new courthouse hasn't been fired yet.
A monumentally stupid decision. Zero accountability.
That's the Big Question - was it the Administration or the Judge who made the decision? And was that decision made with full knowledge that the new building wasn't ready?
Quote from: Charles Hunter on June 05, 2012, 07:03:58 AM
That's the Big Question - was it the Administration or the Judge who made the decision? And was that decision made with full knowledge that the new building wasn't ready?
If it was made without knowledge, that's just as bad. The first thing anybody should ask when deciding to shut the old one down is whether the new one is ready for occupancy yet. If they didn't find that out, it's still a monumentally stupid decision that warrants accountability.
What a mess. Can't wait for this crap to be over....if it ever is.
Another black eye for the city. Just like the default letter sent to Kahn. Somebody, thinking they had their ducks in a row while actually being clueless, took it upon themselves to act. Why would anyone act prematurely? In many cases it's an ego thing. However, being first and being right, which tends to leave the impression that this person is astute and on top of things, can also backfire, leaving the correct impression that this person is really participating in one-upmanship. The project manager(s) should have known better but were blindsided or over-ruled by the political.
In either scenario, i wonder if the true player(s) will be outed and chastised (publicly) or will the official version be that "We don't know how this could have happened but we are taking steps to see it doesn't happen again."
This is what happens when no one wants to be accountable for this project. Everyone seems to be more concerned with seeking political cover from the whole Courthouse mess rather than standing up to face it head on and solve it.
Like it or not, this building is a significant investment and needs to serve the city/county for 80+ years. That's not an obligation to diminish or run away from.
Im still stuck on this. How do you initiate a move, when you were not even given the official green light to occupy it???? Common Sense. Wait for the fire marshall to give you the green light, THEN move.
^^DD so true, so true. It is hard to fathom how this could happen.
QuoteFrankly I'm disappointed in the Brown administration, it shows a total lack of leadership that whoever was responsible for the asinine decision to shut the courts down and pack everything into trucks and haul it away before they'd received a CO for the new courthouse hasn't been fired yet.
A monumentally stupid decision. Zero accountability.
+1
Someone has to be accountable, someone has to fall on their sword, no one in a TV interview has come forth to say "This is my fault", ultimately the responsibility for making the courthouse ready lies with the City, as the Florida Statute says that every county shall make space available for the courts to operate (paraphrased of course), so if the city is responsible, then ultimately, it is Brown's responsibility.
So if he can come out and say, I saw the letter to Khan, why can't he come out and say, look, this snafu is on my administration? We all forgot how Peyton and Bussells lost millions in the stock market with employee pensions, we can forgive this too.
It's enlightening that the mayor spent so much time and energy antagonizing the courts and the City Council over $750 k furniture while this mess was right under the surface. He's going to need to pull it together, fast.
What does the Mayor or his office have to do with the scheduling of the courthouse move? Isn't there a Court Administrator or some such official that is in charge of that?
^The mayor and his office are (supposed to be) in charge of the move.
QuoteWhat does the Mayor or his office have to do with the scheduling of the courthouse move? Isn't there a Court Administrator or some such official that is in charge of that?
Procurement (Greg Pease) was responsible for the bids on the move. The bid out all parts of the process, the mayor has a contract manager in charge of the project as well. Of course Procurement said yesterday that they will let the "attorneys" figure out who is to pay for the cost of the move. Shouldn't the mayor get out in front of this and be the mouthpiece, before someone else in the administration does something that he has to go back and clean up?
The Court Administrator, who works for Judge Moran, has no real power to do anything. Judge Moran has the power to say no to the courthouse if it does not fulfil the needs of his court system, so different people doing different things.
Sure would be nice to see the mayor get out in front of this, instead of waiting like he did for the Jaguar issue to blow up.