Stick needed custom made executive chairs
So, Jack, when he was deputy inspector general for enforcement, ordered two handsome custom-made chairs that resembled those used by House legislative committees.
Grand chairs indeed – per the Texas Tribune , which reported the story this morning.
“Black leather executive chair (s)— high-backed with a five-star wood capped base and closed arms. The state seal is subtly embossed, not emblazoned in gold leaf like many state chairs, but done “blind,” as the furniture makers say, with no coloring so it whispers with a certain dignity from behind the chair’s occupant.”
Both chairs came with engraved brass name plates. A photo can be seen here on the Texas Tribune story page.
$2809.43 each but Stick didn’t know how much they cost
You can also download the delivery receipt signed for by Stick’s aide Cody Cazares and the invoice for the chairs which looks like it is only the wholesale cost, not actually what HHSC paid – $2809.43.
Stick told the Tribune that “he didn’t know how much they cost.”
Staff was going to send chair to Stick’s home
The Tribune further reported:
“After Stick’s abrupt departure, the question of what to do with his customized chair arose as staffers bundled up his belongings to deliver to his home. Cazares, Stick’s second-in-command before he was placed on paid administrative leave, told them to send the chair along, before another staffer pointed out that taxpayers might have paid for it.”
Maybe there needs to be a full investigation into chairs at HHSC now.
Cost about the same as a full course of Medicaid orthodontic treatment
Each chair set back Texas taxpayers about the same as the average cost of a full course of Medicaid orthodontic treatment for an underprivileged child back in 2011 – $2,800, per a Medicaid orthodontist contacted by TDMR.
Let them eat cake.