Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration turned the tables on budget critic John Kennedy over the weekend, questioning the state treasurer’s spending on office space.
The News-Star reports Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne sent Kennedy a letter Friday asking him to provide information about 12,000 square feet of office space the treasurer leases in 1 City Plaza, costing taxpayers $369,597 annually.
Dardenne, Edwards’ chief budget adviser, says the Division of Administration requested the information “numerous times” between October 2014 and Nov. 30, 2015, under former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, without reply and provided the accompanying documentation of those requests.
Most recently, the Nov. 30 letter from the Division of Administration says Kennedy could save the taxpayers $293,858 annually by moving the identified space into state-owned buildings.
“He’s spent a lot of time squawking about doing things to save money, and we agree,” Dardenne said in an interview today. Gannett Louisiana obtained a copy of Dardenne’s letter Sunday.
“I am now personally asking that you immediately provide the requested information since we anticipate space being available in the Capitol Annex,” Dardenne wrote.
“I don’t know why he has been purposefully stalling providing this information,” Dardenne says. “The sooner we can get this done the sooner we can begin saving money. One of the ways we can do that is to utilize every available inch of space the state owns rather than expensive private leases.”
Dardenne also asked that Kennedy advocate for the Louisiana Asset Management Pool, a private corporation offering management tools to local governments, move its operations from its current New Orleans location into state-leased property in Benson Tower or relocating to Baton Rouge. Kennedy is president of LAMP.
“I realize that LAMP is a private entity but, in the interest of the taxpayers, we would like the entity to consider relocating,” Dardenne wrote.
