For drivers who don't want to commit to a new car purchase, leasing has become a popular option. But for a police department in a city with a struggling economy, running up a $65,000 bill for what amounts to renting an nine-year-old car seems like a bit of an oversight. That's just what the Detroit Police Department has been doing since 2003 when it leased a 2004 model Dodge Intrepid at the lofty price of $608 per month. The problem? They've been paying that price ever since.
The original terms of the lease stated that the car would be returned in 2005, at which point the department could choose to buy it outright to take delivery of a newer model. That trade-in never happened, and so far the city has handed out a total of over $56,000 in monthly payments. But that's not all: Because the department has gone well over the original mileage agreement, they owe nearly $10,000 in additional fees, bringing their total bill to well over $65,000. That's $65,000 for a car that could be bought new in 2003 for less than $25,000.
But that's just one vehicle, and the city is currently paying for over a hundred leased cars currently in use, and all of them are operating on expired leases. The seemingly careless spending could total several millions of dollars in the end, and the city apparently has no plans to reverse the practice.
The ridiculous waste of taxpayer money was discovered by local news station WXYZ, after they obtained the sales records through a Freedom of Information Act request. The station spoke with the president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, Joseph Duncan, who seemed just as outraged at the mismanagement as the taxpayers will be, stating "This is malfeasance. It makes no sense to me."
There was one thing that was for certain when it came to the regular season awards—Lamar Odom did not have a chance in hell in repeating as the 6th Man of the Year. Maybe Brian Wilson had so much trouble before he got hurt because people were busy fearing another beard.
James Harden of the Oklahoma City ThunderThe guy that did win it many fans did not hear much about till Metta World Peace went all Ron Artest on him a week or so ago. Folks that really follow the league though had no doubt who the 6th Man award should go to this year because they’ve followed his work all season.
For the folks that cast votes there was little doubt that the award should go to Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden.
Of the 118 ballots, Harden was first on 115 of them easily running away with the award. The top five vote getters were as follows: Harden (584 points); Louis Williams, Philadelphia 76ers (231 points); Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks (81 points); Al Harrington, Denver Nuggets (42); Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs (28).
In just over 31 minutes a game Harden contributed 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists.
Article by Travis Pulver