Nov
10
New Los Angeles courthouse deemed unnecessary by GAO gets caught in the crosshairs.
Last Friday—November 4th—Representative Jeff Denham (R-CA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, held a hearing that dealt with the justification of a third courthouse and the cost implications of the entire courthouse complex in greater Los Angeles. The story was reported by the media and essentially, Rep. Denham summed up the issue as follows.
“This is a prime example of government waste. Ten years ago, $400 million was appropriated for a building that still doesn’t exist, to house federal judges that don’t exist. This vacant lot in downtown LA could be sold and used for private sector growth to create jobs,” said Denham. He added, “There are fewer judges in Los Angeles now than there were when the project was first proposed - over 20 years ago. In a time when Congressional leaders are scrambling to find ways to reduce our $14.3 deficit, the government should look at the buildings that it owns and identify the tens of thousands of empty buildings it doesn’t need. I have introduced the Civilian Property Realignment Act to ensure the sale or consolidation of these properties whose upkeep and management has cost the taxpayer for too long.”
The fact that Rep. Denham leveled his ire on a federal courthouse isn’t surprising. Amongst all federal facilities, courthouses are extremely expensive to build and operate. What is surprising, even refreshing, is that Rep. Denham was willing to take aim at a high profile project in his own home state and close to his district. Clearly, Denham sees that the nation’s fiscal situation merits the sacrifice of politically sensitive expenditures and that curbing the one time and recurring cost of the federal facilities portfolio is a substantial way to aid in deficit reduction.
The broader observation here is that bureaucracies tend to self-perpetuate and when it comes to real property, growth in inventory is a long standing trend; a difficult challenge to resolve. Understandable as that may be, it takes both personal and political fortitude to challenge the status quo, eliminating underperforming programs and, as in this case, taking decisive action to eliminate waste in facilities before it occurs.
Rep. Denham deserves our respect and encouragement for taking the stand he did. Clearly, he sees that the issues are larger than any single building and, so far, seems both willing and able to take this challenge forward through the hurdles of legislative processes. I commend Rep. Denham, not because he acted to strike down one wasteful project, but because he is addressing the larger issues of downsizing a federal portfolio that we cannot afford. Simply, Jeff Denham “gets it” and is taking needed action to bring about a necessary result.
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