Governor Kasich and his family don’t live in the mansion designated as the gubernatorial residence, opting instead to stay in their own home—closer to their children’s school. But it cost taxpayers $438,720 to staff and maintain the place in 2011. This includes the cable bill.
Incredibly, the Kasich administration says it is actually saving money compared to what it cost to run the mansion under former Governor Strickland. The Columbus Dispatch reports:
The state spent $448,177 for then-Gov. Ted Strickland to live at the 358 N. Parkview Ave. estate in 2007 (his first year in office), a sum the Kasich administration says would be $488,968 today if adjusted for inflation.
“We’re glad to be saving taxpayers money, $50,000 in savings when Strickland’s first year is adjusted for inflation,” Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said.
But Nichols fails to factor in the additional and kept-under-wraps cost of having to keep tabs on Ohio’s first family at their more convenient family home.
The state also provides security for Kasich and his family at their Genoa Township home at an undisclosed cost, but a spokeswoman for the State Highway Patrol said security costs for the governor are “comparable to what they’d be if he were living at the mansion.”
We don’t have any math whizzes at Scene but we’re guessing that “comparable” means more than the $50,000 the administration says its saving taxpayers at the mansion.
And there’s that cable bill. The Kasich administration does hold state shindigs at the Governor’s Residence. Do guests gather in the parlor to watch TV? Who is watching TV? The on-duty maintenance staff?
This article appears in Dec 21-27, 2011.
Your logic is flawed. As I see it, if he’s not at the gov-mansion then there’s no security for him there, ipsp facto, no cost, right? Why do you assume the cost would be “more” than the 50k in savings, at his own home when the spokesman says, “comparable” to the cost at the gov-mansion? That’s a partisan leap of the facts, if I ever heard of one. And why does the cable bill bother you so much? Certainly the governor’s staff needs to stay abreast of breaking news and political commentary at the CNN, FOX and add to the 3 or 4 people who watch MSNBC. What’s wrong Campbell, Santa pee in your Christmas sock and you feel like taking it out on a non issue? Jeez.
@joe18750-The staff at the mansion is not the type of staff that needs to keep abreast of the issues. Those staff persons have offices in Columbus and some are spread throughout the state. The staff at the mansion consists of maintenance and repair staff. Also, the mansion still requires security whether empty or not.
joe18750–You sound more like the one Santa slighted. It is apparent that you support the governor of Ohio and all of his boasting and bs. Maybe you work for one of the many giant corporations which he single-handedly kept from moving out of state. Maybe you work for AG and love the gov for talking them into moving to Crocker where there are far more snotty rich pricks than poor old Broklyn has. Or maybe you work for the Dispatch and the Wolfe family and therefore would like to censor anything against the governor. Tell me the reasons you like the governor so much and I’ll tell you why I don’t. Blow-bags stick together you know.
why can’t the state just sell the mansion and let all the governors live in their own houses? they usually can afford it.