[PRCo] Re: pat__service__cuts__2007.01.23-changed to 2/1/07

[Fred Schneider]

So, John, which friend of the Port Authority owned the Heinz  
Building?   Why would they move out of their own building and leave  
it emply so they can rent space and pay more money?
Whose reelection campaign got kissed?

And the blokes wonder why Fred is cynical.

On Feb 2, 2007, at 1:10 PM, John Swindler wrote:

>
>
> From today’s Post Gazette.
>
> One could ask the question: why did PAT need more space when system
> ridership was declining.
>
> John
>
>
>
> Port Authority urged to move to less-expensive office space
> Friday, February 02, 2007
> By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>
> The Port Authority could save money by moving out of rented office  
> space in
> the Heinz 57 Center, Downtown, and going back to its partly vacant  
> former
> administration building in Manchester, state Auditor General Jack  
> Wagner
> said.
>
> At a news conference yesterday, he urged the authority to cancel  
> its lease,
> saying his agency determined the cost to be $7.8 million for rent  
> and $7.7
> million for renovations and furnishings as part of a 10-year deal.
>
> He also claimed the cash-strapped agency is paying for parking for
> "executive management" that was free at the Manchester building.
>
> Mr. Wagner said he called attention to the lease now as a "significant
> interim matter" that came up as part of a comprehensive, long-range  
> audit of
> authority spending.
>
> "It is unconscionable that management would continue to lease prime  
> space at
> taxpayer expense that is unnecessary," he said in a statement.  
> "Your fiscal
> crisis requires that immediate steps be taken."
>
> Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said a return to Manchester has  
> been
> under consideration.
> He said the authority has estimated the move would cost $8 million  
> -- $4.3
> million for repairs and renovations to the Manchester building and  
> $3.7
> million for the remaining 3 1/2 years on its Heinz lease "unless we  
> could
> find someone to sublet to. Given the Downtown office vacancy rates,  
> we're
> not sure that's very likely."
>
> The authority leases the entire third floor and part of the fifth  
> floor of
> the Heinz 57 Center. The administrative and nonunion staff moved  
> there more
> than six years ago for what was then a lack of space in Manchester  
> and to
> put employees closer to transit, riders and people with whom they  
> work.
>
> Last year's rent was $835,000.
>
> Mr. Grove said the authority has 17 reserved parking spaces, 13 for  
> pool
> cars shared by staff and four for administrators, including  
> construction and
> operations managers who often need to go on the road. The authority  
> doesn't
> pay for the spaces but, in exchange, employees do cleanup around  
> the First
> Avenue T station that's part of the First Avenue Parking Garage.
>
> The Post-Gazette reported in November that authority officials were
> contemplating a return to Manchester for long-term cost-savings in  
> light of
> recurring budget crises.
>
> The five-story building in Manchester, at Beaver and Island  
> avenues, was
> built in 1972 at a cost of $9 million, most of it coming from the  
> federal
> government. It contains a parking deck and a sprawling ground-floor  
> garage
> that houses the main bus repair, major overhaul and repair shops,  
> with 165
> employees.
>
> About 100 treasury, technology and training personnel use the  
> office space,
> but about two-thirds of the remaining space is vacant. Efforts to  
> lease the
> space to private interests have failed.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: Jim Holland <prcopcc at p-r-co.com>
>> Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>> To: "- 1714 PRCo__WP__JTC (WP-Cleveland;__DCT) -"
>> <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>,        "- 1717 PRCo__WP__JTC
>> (WP-Cleveland;__DCT) -" <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>> Subject: [PRCo] ({[pat]}__service__cuts__2007.01.23
>> Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:12:27 -0800
>>
>>  From another list:::::::
>> .
>> .
>> .
>> There was outrage in Pennsylvania's second largest city to proposed
>> transit cuts and fare hikes by Port Authority of Allegheny County,
>> Pittsburgh's light rail and bus operator. A series of public hearings
>> began today:
>> http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07022/755895-100.stm
>> In a story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, staff writer Jim Ritchie
>> traced Port Authority's troubles since it acquired Pittsburgh  
>> Railways:
>> http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_489650.html
>> .
>> .
>> .
>> Jim___Holland
>>
>>
>>
>
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