Chafee Says State Is Wasting Money on Leases
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Independent candidate for governor Lincoln Chafee yesterday said it doesn’t make much sense for the state to spend $11.9 million a year on leasing privately-owned buildings, while leaving 400,000 square feet of buildings it owns vacant. As governor, Chafee promised to shift more state operations to state-owned buildings.
“I find it incredible that our state—which owns approximately 1,500 buildings and 80,000 acres of land across the state—has no plan in place to minimize, if not eliminate, the costly practices of commercial office leases in the private sector,” stated Chafee.
“Worse yet, many of these buildings—which I view as valuable taxpayer assets—have been allowed to fall into a state of disrepair for no reason other than neglect,” Chafee added.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTChafee said the state has dozens of unoccupied buildings, totaling more than 400,000 square feet of space. Meanwhile, it is spending $11.9 million on 33 leases. That money is going to private landlords to renovate and modernize their own buildings, instead of being used to improve state buildings, the Chafee campaign said.
As governor, Chafee said he would complete the renovation of the state-owned, 165,000-square-foot Cranston Street Armory and move three state agencies to the space. He said he would also review all 33 leases the state currently holds.
Over the long term, Chafee would develop a master plan for how state-owned properties would be used. The plan envisions the Pastore Complex in Cranston—where Chafee held his press conference yesterday—as a centrally located “government services mall” with three regional hubs in the Blackstone Valley, Bristol County, and South County.
“Currently, our citizens’ access to government services is challenged by geographically inconvenient locations, which often lack adequate parking and access to public transit and are dispersed in such a way as to often needlessly require multiple trips,” Chafee stated.
“In light of this, it is all the more disturbing that we are ignoring our own assets and paying a king’s ransom in rent to private-sector landlords. It’s time to change this practice and replace it with sound, cost-effective management of our taxpayer dollars.”
