Golf carts, frozen rats and a $12 million helicopter are among the diverse items purchased or leased by the city of Los Angeles in the last three years, according to a series of infographics released Wednesday by the city controller.
The newest section of Controller Ron Galperin’s ControlPanelLA website includes digital “postcards” highlighting the price-tags on some of the unusual and mundane purchases made by the city, all part of an effort to spark debate and spur the public to dig further into the posted data, Galperin said.
The cards provide context for why the city bought the items, often showing “that some of the things we buy might initially look outrageous, but they actually make a lot of sense under closer examination,” Galperin said.
“Likewise, we may find things that appear reasonable but actually present problems,” he said.
The frozen rats — all 52,100 of them — were purchased for $129,218 to feed snakes at the Los Angeles Zoo.
The $12 million helicopter is used for fighting fires and contains a “drop-tank” that can release 420 gallons of water.
Other items picked out for the postcards from the many lines of data on Galperin’s website include 72 custom-made motorcycle police boots purchased for $21,929 — each pair coming out to about $304; 6,670 soccer balls purchased for $8,549; and 6.4 million ballots that cost $629,218.
Cell phones, cleaning supplies, uniforms and office supplies bought by the Department of General Services, which handles city purchases, are also among goods acquired between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2014, altogether totaling about $1.2 billion.
Galperin said he hopes the data will help the city save money on what it buys.
“I want city managers — and the public too, for that matter — to use this data to help improve city procurement and contracting by encouraging more bidders, driving down the cost of goods and services for the city, and supporting local businesses and jobs,” he said.
Galperin’s postcards — which can be found at http://controlpanel.la/cards/ — will also be printed up and distributed at various city facilities and events. Galperin also created the hashtag “labuys” as a way to promote the cards through social media.
The controller’s office plans to eventually include purchasing information from the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports. These agencies are operated semi-independently from the city.
— City News Service