Boondoggle Burrow

LITTLE ROCK — My vote for the You Said a Mouthful award goes to comments made last week by state Sen. Ruth Whitaker of Cedarville, to wit:

"Why are we so crowded? We haven't increased the number of legislators. It is because of the growth of staff and government. Our citizens are hurting for food. What is the urgency? It is just reckless in my opinion to even think about spending 1, 2 or 3 million dollars."

Last time I checked, the Legislative Council consisted of 40 members of the Arkansas General Assembly. I don't know how many of them attended last week's meeting, but it has been duly recorded that of those present, only Whitaker voiced any concerns about the $2.8 million tunnel, a.k.a. the Boondoggle Burrow, that legislative leaders want to foist on Arkansas taxpayers. That's in addition to the anticipated $5 million renovation of the nearby state Multi-Agency Complex, i.e., Big MAC, that the tunnel would lead to and the $18.5 million needed to buy and refurbish the old Dillard's building in downtown Little Rock to which to some Big MAC offices will be moved so that lawmakers and their ever-increasing staff can have a reason to "need" a tunnel to get to Big MAC when it rains.

All this so that lawmakers can make room for some private offices for themselves.

I know it's been rainier than usual this summer, wetter than most winters in the Natural State, but when members of the general public have to park five or six blocks away rain or shine to see their government in action, those umbrellas that Gov. Mike Beebe proposed to provide lawmakers and staffers alike seem a far more reasonable alternative.

At Friday's council meeting, legislative staffer David Ferguson told his bosses that the Boondoggle Burrow is really, really needed because of a "steep grade" between the state Capitol and Big MAC.

"You have to look at a lot of staff people pushing carts across the parking lot," he added. "I just can't imagine pushing a cart up and down."

Poor baby. But that's easily prevented. Just keep the staff offices where they are, or group them closer together from their various locations within the Capitol. It's not only energy efficient, but cost-effective, too.

But that's nothing that concerns some lawmakers, among them Randy Laverty, Senate chair of the Joint Interim Committee on Legislative Facilities, to whom was attributed the claim that the tunnel will benefit legislators-legislators, mind you, not staffers or members of the tax-paying public-"for decades." No doubt he was thinking of those new and improved private offices that both House and Senate members covet, the real reason for spending millions of dollars to move some state offices into the downtown area, renovate Big MAC and build a tunnel.

Actually, a tunnel would make it easier for lawmakers to slip out of the Capitol for those lavish luncheons that lobbyists like to put on for them every session. Now they have to walk across the Capitol grounds to their state-owned apartment building in full view of everyone. (Apparently, nobody has thought about getting a fleet of golf carts to ferry them back and forth, but that's probably next.)

Ferguson later said that he and fellow staffers used 10.4 tons of paper during the legislative session held earlier this year. I'd be curious to know how much of that was shuffled on carts around the Capitol between staff offices and rooms where lawmakers were assembled. Or is that something that would be required only if staff moves into Big MAC? This is something that really ought to be checked out during the upcoming legislative session, don't you think?

Speaking of the governor, so far he's hanging tough. After meeting Monday with Robbie Wills, the House speaker, and Steve Faris, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees state agencies and governmental affairs, Beebe's spokesman said, the governor is still unconvinced that a tunnel would be the best use of $1.8 million. (The $2.8 million estimate includes the projected cost of landscaping and reshuffling the parking displaced by the tunnel.) And since the governor is the one who has to release the money to pay for it, that should end the discussion. Mark my words, it won't.

Associate Editor Meredith Oakley is editor of the Voices page.