[nfbmi-talk] how will this impact bep program?

[joe harcz Comcast]

Michigan Senate looking to move offices one block LANSING State Senators will move their offices next year from the aging, state-owned Farnum Building to

a more luxurious, relatively new office tower owned by the Boji family a generous contributor to Republican candidates and political action committees.

The Senate approved the sale of the Farnum building last year, but the Michigan Strategic Fund acted this week to issue $70 million in tax-exempt bonds

to purchase and renovate seven of the nine floors of the Capitol View building, which was built in 2005, and lease the space back to the state Senate for

offices. The move will displace 315 state Department of Community Health employees from the Capitol View, and put the Farnum building up for sale with

a price tag yet to be determined. Kurt Weiss, spokesman for the state budget office said there have been no decisions made on whether or where the DCH

employees would move. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, has wanted out of the Farnum building for a couple of years now, citing unreliable

heating and air-conditioning, outdated technology and the presence of asbestos in the building. The Senate has pegged the cost of renovating the Farnum

at $24 million. The state Department of Management, Technology and Budget, however, has estimated it would have cost between $11.5 million to $16 million

to renovate the Farnum. They will sell the building "as is," without major renovations, Weiss said. A panel of five people, including Secretary of the

Senate Carol Viventi, two purchasing officers, a fiscal analyst and a staffer from the physical properties department, reviewed four options for Senate

offices: the Capitol View; renovating the Farnum; new construction near the Hall of Justice, which is three blocks from the Capitol, or a purchase and

renovation of the Lansing City Hall. They found the Capitol View was the most cost-effective and its proximity right across Allegan Street from the Capitol

was the best choice, said Viventi. They made the recommendation to Richardville, who chose the Capitol View option. Democrats opposed the sale of the Farnum,

saying at the time that their current office space was fine. They haven't changed their view. "We're talking about spending tens of millions to move from

one block to another," said Robert McCann, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing. "The Farnum is certainly not the nicest

building in town, but it serves its function. This is the exact type of stuff that makes people angry with their state government. The Boji family, which

owns multiple properties in Lansing and metro Detroit, also owns the Boji Tower, across Capitol Street from the Capitol, where the Senate began leasing

space for a hearing room and some office space when Rochester Republican Mike Bishop was Senate Majority Leader. The family has been a generous donor over

the years, according to campaign finance records, giving $61,000 to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee since 2005, $70,000 to the Michigan Republican

Party, $32,700 to Gov. Rick Snyder, $28,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee, $1,000 to Richardville's leadership PAC; $27,102 to Bishop and

his PAC and five years of free office space to the Decider PAC, which donated $72,000 to the Republican Senate Leadership Campaign this year. The family

also has ties to Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, giving $15,202 to his PAC. The family also has given money to state Democrats, including former

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, former state Rep. Andy Dillon of Redford and current state Reps. Woodrow Stanley of Flint and Rashida Tlaib of Detroit. "There

are just a lot of red flags to this deal," McCann said. But John Truscott, a spokesman for the Boji family, said there was nothing unusual about the move.

"It was a very open and transparent bid process. Pretty much anybody who could have qualified as a bidder was sent a letter," he said. "And the Boji group

responded to it with what turned out to be the most cost effective proposal. The Farnum building was purchased by the state in 1978 for $3 million. Contact

Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99 at freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal .