According to the Hartford Courant, The mayor of the city, one Eddie Perez, has signed a deal with one of his political supporters to have the supporter’s company run a parking lot in the city. He did this without any bid process.
The lot is a 225 surface facility that has a history of charging $4 a day and $75 for monthly parking. If one assumes one turn over a day in dailies, this is a facility that would gross about $37,000 a year. The mayor let it go for $1000 a month and no percentage.
The article is great — read it here.
The mayor and city attorney are involved. Its great.
I’m no expert on how politics work in Hartford but it appears that the mayor has complete control in some areas. Prior to the late 90’s parking in the city was controlled by the mayor and the city manager. The state refused to fund any more parking until the city changed its laws and formed the parking authority.
The mayor got around the bidding process by issuing his buddy a short term contract with cancellation clauses.
Of course, the Mayor’s opponents are eating this up.
Aren’t parking and politics wonderful.
JVH
2 Responses
Maybe you made a typo on the gross revenue here. $37,000 or $370,000. My best guesstimate not knowing the facility is about $300,000 in revenue less operating expenses and rent. Assuming the lot is operated weekdays from 7 am – 7 pm and all operating expenses and utilities are fairly typical, G & G stands to make a tidy profit on this deal; the neighborhood of $200,000 more or less. Not a bad day’s work.
Sorry, $37,000 per month, or nearly half a mil per year. Your number is right on
JVH