$10,000 a month for Perrys' rent?
Why doesn't the state put up the guv and his family at Motel 6 and save some money?
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, September 28, 2007
So, what do we call Gov. Rick Perry's fancy new digs out at the exclusive Estates Above Lost Creek west of town where he's moving in next month?
How about the Mo-Fo-Tel, after that "adios, mofo" gaff the governor made after a TV interview?
The reason Perry is moving is that the Governor's Mansion downtown will be undergoing an 18-month renovation. So Texas taxpayers will pay $9,900 a month to put up Perry, his wife, Anita, and their dog, Lucy, in a 4,602-square-foot house with a pool.
Most people will think this is a lot of bread. And the governor is an Aggie. So at these exorbitant rates, the chant could change to Hullabaloo Ca-Ching Ca-Ching.
But there's a good reason for this expense. The governor is moving out into the country near Barton Creek because he's a West Texas boy. So he needs a place where he can relieve himself in the backyard. He could have done that in my South Austin neighborhood for about $600 a month.
What gets me is that the Perrys are having to pay a $1,800 pet deposit. That's just wrong. If the governor's dog messes in the hall, that's a selling point, and the value of the house goes up.
I tried to drive out to Perry's new place Thursday, but I couldn't get in because it's got two gates — one around the subdivision and another around the house.
I figure the way to get in out there is to get a pickup, throw some shovels in the back, hire three or four guys from the day labor corner and tell the guy who answers the speaker at the gate that you're doing Perry's yard. Then, when they question you, just keep saying, "Que? Que?"
Let's see, at about $10,000 a month over 18 months, that's a total of $180,000, if the work gets done on schedule. Of course, if a remodeling crew finishes on schedule, man will land on Neptune and the Red Sox will play the Cubs in the World Series. So I'm figuring the remodel will take two years and Perry's rent will cost us $240,000.
I think they should have put Perry up at the Austin Motel on South Congress Avenue. The most expensive room there is an executive suite for $158 a night. That comes out to $4,898 a month, or about half the current bill. And he could walk to work. Did it ever occur to the Perrys how many Brownie points they could have accumulated with the voters if they'd sucked it up and stayed in the Governor's Mansion while it was getting those new sewer lines installed?
I'd vote for a guy who had the guts to save the taxpayers major bucks by putting a portable toilet on the front lawn of the Governor's Mansion while his place was being worked on. Even if it was maroon.
John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 445-3606 or
jkelso@statesman.com.
](/images/smilies/bang.gif "Brick wall ](*,)")
i stand corrected. i allowed my 'human' emotions to overwhelm me. 
