Furniture Frenzey

Topic for discussion: Furniture frenzey

Your comments:

Ok... on the surface spending $200K on the furniture for the renovated library wing looks on the surface to be excessive and unnecessary. Until your in a position to shop and purchase these type of materials.... perhaps you should reserve judgement on the story.

I started my own insurance and financial services agency back in 1990 on shall I say.... a shoe string budget. Everything in my office was second and third hand however it got the job done. Over the years we have replace items as replacements became available... again on a very frugal budget. Luckily many of the items were very high quality... but came from liquidation at little or no cost.

Last year...after 22 years I finally determined I had earned the right to shop for some new items for an office expansion. I had access to "preferred" pricing through a major supplier chain that services our national brand. Let me take you through the items I purchased. 1 modest conference table, 4 cloth covered chairs and one modest credenza to provide over head and below level storage. I received quotes for this type of set up from several lines and settled on the lower end (green labeled) but still much nicer than anything I've ever had. The final tab: $5,500 after shipping and set up.

My point is that I don't see the real problem here in the actual expenditure for the items needed to make this a "World Class" library expansion. Does Detroit and the citizens deserve such a thing? Your damn straight they do! The citizens have been under served on almost every level for the past 50 years and it is my conclusion that they deserve a world class library.

Is it the best time to bang your drum over this expenditure? I don't think anyone intended on doing so... but since we are in an age of making a spectacle out of people in government more accountable for every dime they spend... then it sure makes for good news.

Here is the real story AND the mistake that was made. If your in a position to spend a large amount of money for a public improvement... and you happen to think about giving a family member or a friend a shot at the contract or the purchase of materials... the rule of thumb should be... don't do it! It is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST and will never look good when it comes out in the spin cycle.

Now... the young lady stated that she can't be held accountable for something else someone did in her

department. Again... if your in charge and it happens under your watch then it all falls in your lap. Sorry... you can't make the excuse that your not a hand holder. The buck stops with you if it falls under your responsibility. The boss has to take the hit. Bottom line!

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Clash of the Ego's on WJR Radio 50,000 watt Blow hards....

Thanks for your comment Donaldman.
Here's the note you sent to The Detroit News:

Topic for discussion: Clash of the Ego's....WJR

Your comments:

Talk about the 50,000 watt blow torch... maybe they should consider changing that to the 50,000 watt blow hards! I have been a fan of WJR all the way back to my childhood when my dad always tuned into the JP show and Tiger baseball.... cannot forget patterns in music.

Things have certainly changed over the years in the broad cast media industry. Take a look at the line up from 5:30 am all the way to late night and what do you really have? Massive...arrogant... heavy lean to the right... EGO'S. My first surprise is that the broad cast booth was big enough for both gigantic heads to fit into the same room.

Both Beckman AND Albom have forgot where their humble beginnings started...sports jockies who really accomplished nothing on any field of sports and ended up as critics and analyzers of games they never excelled in themselves.

Now... sitting in their protected little glass houses they can spout away about any topic they choose...AND as all radio, TV, and even print journalist can do... they have the final word. Let me give you an example. Take Rush Limbaugh for example... he is very controlling over every second of what is broad cast over the air waives... he carefully screens every one who HE chooses to come on the air... AND

then controls the tone and direction of the carefully chosen guest to his advantage and point. That is called manipulation and control of the proposed outcome. They have the ability to press the mute button at any time, over ride the conversation to make their point and can make the guest appear foolish or inept by adding back ground noises and such to hammer home their spin controlled message.

Put two people in the same booth who are used to controlling the outcome... take away their tools of advantage with removing the controls... and you have basically a celebrity death match in the making. If I were to bet on that match I would say advantage to Albom. Although Beckman is probably larger in stature and has a much bigger mouth....Albom has the unusually large cranium and could probably head butt Beckmen to death.

Funny that Albom is still around since he is the only lefty on the air at WJR... I have become so tired of the talking heads that beat the same drum over and over that I can no longer drink from the Righty cup. It has become so full of bitterness and poison I have chosen to go with a secret that few are aware of... It's called the off button! Try it sometimes and enjoy the sounds of.... well silence. It is a real treat to have in the world of non stop media buzz. Funny though...even your smart phone will try and steal that from you with every Facebook post trying to tempt you away from your moment of relaxed silence.

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