CHARLESTON — The House Judiciary Committee took a whack Monday at the state Supreme Court’s excessive spending on the justices’ offices remodeling.
They did it by giving the Capitol Building Commission more oversight of contracts and change orders in all plans involving substantial physical changes to Capitol complex buildings and grounds.
One delegate pointed out that Supreme Court office remodeling, which began at an estimated $187,000, escalated to $3.7 million through a series of change orders to the original contract.
Department of Arts, Culture and History Curator Randall Reid-Smith, who chairs the building commission, told members that the panel’s mission is to protect the historic value of structures and grounds. The panel must approve all projects before they go to the Purchasing Department for contract approval.
Asked about the remodeling of the justices’ offices, he said the projects should have gone through the commission, but never did.
And the law has no teeth said, Susan Pierce, state historic preservation officer. If someone chooses to bypass the building commission, the commission can’t do anything about it.
Judiciary dealt with the problem with what’s called an originating bill, meaning if comes from the committee and not from individual delegates. The bill has no number yet.
Current code says: “The capitol building commission shall review and approve or reject all plans recommending substantial physical changes inside or outside the state Capitol building or surrounding complex, including the public meeting rooms, hallways and grounds, which affect the appearance thereof. The approval of the commission is mandatory before a contract may be let for work which constitutes a substantial physical change, or before changes are started if the work is not done under a contract.”
Code doesn’t address offices, and the bill as first drafted simply added offices to the list. But members amended it to more simply delete the list.
So the bill reads: “The capitol building commission shall review and approve or reject all plans recommending substantial physical changes inside or outside the state Capitol building or surrounding complex which affect the appearance thereof.”
Another amendment, crafted by Delegates Tom Fast, R-Fayette, and Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, gives the building commission some actual power by including change orders under its purview and specifying that its approval extends to all areas occupied by the governor, Legislature and Supreme Court.
Typical of House Judiciary, which hashes over fine details at length, deliberation took close to two hours.
The bill now goes to the full House, where it will be assigned a number and placed on the calendar for action.
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