Ah, Seattle. At best, a triple-A league city, strutting its stuff like it believes it’s world class. I love watching Seattle and its attendant politics just for the entertainment value. Yes, that is easier said, now that Sweetie and I have fled the Great Northwet.
Have you heard about the fancy toilets Seattle installed in its homeless center downtown core? Million bucks a pop for state of the art totally automated self cleaning public toilets, Seattle ponied up for five of these beauties in 2004. They’ve spent the last 3 1/2 years ignoring the jokes, and the howls from taxpayers, trying to pretend this was a good idea.
The high-tech public toilets, with sanitizing water jets and automatic doors, were installed in 2004 to accommodate tourists and transients in Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill, the central waterfront, Pike Place Market and the Chinatown International District. But the city canceled its contract this spring after the commodes became filthy hide-outs for drug use and prostitution.
You really didn’t see that coming? Oh my. So, like any good city trying to cover its mistake recover its investment, they put the five superloos on eBay. I was just looking for one of those too, weren’t you? But the price, while a tremendous discount, was still a little steep.
The city tried to sell the toilets on eBay in July, but nobody coughed up the $89,000 minimum bid. In its second attempt, which closed Thursday, the city offered no minimum, and 148 bids were cast.
What? You really want to know what they got for them? Ok.
All five were sold to Racecar Supply, of Rochester, in Thurston County, with winning bids ranging from $1,625 to $4,899 per commode, said Pat Miller, spokesman for Seattle’s Fleets and Facilities Department. “What a buy,” said Racecar Supply owner Butch Behn.
Isn’t “what a buy” what the politicians said when they sold the idea to the Seattle taxpayers back in 2001? I’ll forgo the Olympia and Thurston County jokes. Instead, I want to place in nomination a man so totally clueless, and so publicly embarrassed, even I almost feel sorry for him. After all, it isn’t his fault that they couldn’t even sell advertising in the silly things because it would be against the city’s sign ordinance. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. But this line is all his own.
“We sold them for what the market determined them to be worth,” said Andy Ryan, spokesman for Seattle Public Utilities. “Did we get hosed? I’m not sure.”
The politicians in Seattle turn $5 Million into $12,000 in less than 4 years and the man says “Did we get hosed? I’m not sure.” A classic line, and just what we’ve all come to expect from progressive politicians and the bureaucrats who serve them. Just think, we can all have this level of performance, simply by voting in a few more of these guys. I’m looking forward to it, aren’t you?
And in a final bit of progressive newspeak, where not increasing spending becomes “massive budget cuts”, another spokesman said that they were “saving $4.5M”… because now they won’t have to pay the rest of the ridiculous maintenance contract they had on the silly things. Oh, and then they’ll get to pay to take them out, and pay another $250,000 to restore the public space. Let’s see, $12,000 from the sale, less $2000 commissions, less $250,000 restoration, leaves, ah… leaves about, uh….
Miller said he wasn’t disappointed with the return on the city’s $5 million investment.
Return on investment? This guy needs to run for Senator or something. He makes Patty Murray look like a genius. By the way, if they’d just bought $5M worth of Starbucks stock, they would still have a bit over $2M left. And no, that’s not a “return on investment” either.
Did you hear the one about the Supersonics?
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