The Capitol annex will soon be gutted. Lawmakers still asked for nearly $200K in office upgrades

It’s just a matter of time until the annex of offices attached to the California Capitol comes down.

The Legislature authorized a chunk of money last year to do away with the 67-year-old building that houses the majority of state senators and Assembly members to make space for a more modern model. Work is already underway for a temporary space that will house lawmakers and their staff while that project is completed.

That hasn’t stopped legislators from sprucing up their offices in the meantime.

Since January 2018, dozens of members have requested and received nearly $190,000 in office improvements despite voting to tear down or gut the current structure.

The list of improvements since last year ranged from $548 of “touch up” paint in the office of state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, to a $10,555 carpet renovation for Sen. Connie Leyva, a Democrat from Chino. Others received larger paint upgrades, complete carpet repair, modest remodeling and new furniture, according to invoice reports obtained by The Sacramento Bee.

• State Sen. Ben Hueso’s office received nearly $12,000 in new carpeting this year, after Senate Facilities completed a walk-through and determined that tearing in several spots was severe enough to warrant a complete replacement, Hueso’s office said.
  
  
• Another $8,000 of new carpeting was rolled out in Assemblyman Rudy Salas’ office.
• And $6,000 went into fixing Assemblyman Devon Mathis’ flooring and repairing damaged walls in mid-2018. Mathis said in an emailed statement that, “Over the course of years, used by the previous office, the carpets had not been changed, let alone cleaned.” The “major repairs” were needed, he said to maintain “professional standards” for his staff.
• State Sen. Henry Stern’s office said the Canoga Park Democrat’s work space needed a paint and carpet makeover as a result of “inheriting an office” in shabby condition. More than $12,000 worth of “Frost Grey” base paint, “Pebble Drift” accents and “Delicate White” trimming now decorate Stern’s office. Another $9,690 in new carpet and a $3,351 door swing were also installed, according to the invoices.

The Assembly, home to 80 lawmakers, requested approximately $64,000 worth of repairs. The Senate, a chamber half in size, nearly doubled that dollar number.

Within two years, lawmakers are expected to move out of the decades-old building attached to the east side of the Capitol and into the temporary building under construction on 10th and O streets. The temporary space is scheduled for completion in November 2021 and will cost more than $400 million. It’s projected to be 10 stories and large enough to house more than 1,250 legislative and executive branch staff, according to plans for the project.

It’s unclear at this point when the separate annex project will be completed, or whether the current structure will be renovated or torn down, said Debra Gravert, chief administrative officer for the Assembly. Former Gov. Jerry Brown set aside last year up to $755 million to fix the six-story structure.

In the meantime, both Gravert and Senate Secretary Erika Contreras said ongoing maintenance for the current Annex is necessary to uphold a work environment acceptable to visitors and constituents.

“We have an obligation to have a presentable, clean, and safe work space for our employees – and for the public who frequent our Capitol – so continued maintenance and upkeep of both the historical and Annex side of the building remains important,” Contreras said. “The new building that is currently under construction will not be finished for several years, so we do need to continue to do repairs as needed.”

Lawmakers voted to dispose of the annex after a 2017 report found desperate deficiencies in the structure. According to Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, the lack of disability access, asbestos problems and overcrowding pose safety threats to Capitol staff and the estimated 2 million annual visitors who tour the building. The structure also sits on top of a parking garage, which is considered a bomb risk.

Cooley spearheaded the initiative to remodel the outdated annex and championed a modern model that boasts a more formal visitor center and a new parking garage. CSHQA, the firm that completed the report, recommended a 514,000 square foot building.

“The Capitol annex project is a multi-faceted adventure that offers a renewed sense of pride,” Cooley said in a promotion video for the project. “The project contemplates a Capitol Annex that fits the needs of the people and the work done there in the modern era.”

Cooley’s legislation to finance the project was opposed by Republicans and a handful of Democrats who routinely voted against the measure.

Assembly Republicans during a floor vote on the bill raised concerns on the bidding process for the construction and accused the Legislature of exempting itself from California Environmental Quality Act building regulations. They also argued that the money was gravely needed elsewhere.

“Our state infrastructure is crumbling,” said Mathis, a Visalia Republican, before voting against the legislation. “We don’t have water, our roads are garbage and quite frankly, the folks in my district live in Third World conditions. Yet we have a budget trailer bill that is going to build a shiny new Capitol for us, while my people struggle.”

With a supermajority, Democrats received the bulk of the recent office upgrades. Capitol leadership, like the Senate president pro tem, Assembly speaker and Senate Republican leader, are in the more historical, rotunda side of the building.

Because correspondence between members and their staff are exempt from being made public under public records requests, it’s unknown what additional improvements were denied and what more could have been requested since The Bee received the records.

Gravert, who oversees the Assembly Rules Committee, said she still attempts frugality when approving any replacements or repainting. Unless frayed carpet poses a tripping risk, or is too dirty to be cleaned again, she said she doesn’t like to sign off on new flooring. Only then will she open the three-bid process to find the company with the right price.

“We are really, really cognizant of not spending money unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Gravert said. “Sometimes we stretch the carpet so many times that it doesn’t work anymore. I do it on true need.”

Editing note: A previous version of this story stated that the Annex is attached to the west side of the Capitol. It is on the east wing.

This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The Capitol annex will soon be gutted. Lawmakers still asked for nearly $200K in office upgrades."