From the Unclear on the Concept file:Gary, Ind. Mayor Rudy Clay wanted to do his best to stimulate the American economy, so he used city funds to buy a car for the Mayor's office.
So he bought an H3 Hummer. For $30,000. While his city has a $36 million deficit.
To top it off, Mayor Clay asked for a cap on property taxes for his city, which means the city will get less money than they need.
But Mayor Clay is not completely stupid. He realized the mayor of a city should have a vehicle. And he told Indiana's Distressed Unit Appeals Board (DUAB) as much.
"What do you want me to do, walk around here?" he asked the board. "I've got to have a car."
But a 2009 Hummer H3? The gas mileage on these things is measured in furlongs and liters. How is that financially responsible?Mayor Clay did point out that he got a $5,000 discount on the car, or it would have cost a lot more. Well, $5,000 more. Hey, Mayor Clay, that's some mighty shrewd dealing. Instead of wasting $35,000 of the city's money, you only wasted $30,000.
To be fair, Mayor Clay is paying for his own gas.
And it could be worse. "We're saving taxpayers money by riding in a Hummer," he told the DUAB. "I could have bought a $50,000 Expedition."
No, you could have bought a $22,000 Taurus that gets 28 mpg.
I think instead Gary will end up with a new mayor. Then we can save the taxpayers all sorts of money.
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