Having parked in that garage about a decade and change ago, I assure you that taking a tow truck into the bowels of that complex is difficult at best. Towing a car out from the third floor of any size (think SUV) … lets say you’d have greater success in winning the lottery.

@Sunni SC,

Preach on! If you happened to work for a SC House or SC Senate member, you *might* be fortunate enough to occupy his or her space when the GA is not in session. At least that is the way is was years ago . . .

- SSHM

-The waiting list for obtaining a space when you go to work in one of those buildings is at minimum 1 year. Until such time, employees have to grapple for spaces in temporary lots-often having to arrive up to 45 minutes ahead of time just to have somewhere to park.
-The parking Nazis who run the garage will-and do frequently- issue tickets if you park a car in your own space without the appropriate sticker. Example-you drive another car to work and don’t hike up from the bowels of the garage to obtain a temporary sticker for your own vehicle-which you then have to trudge back down into the bowels to put in place.
-We were told when the ridiculously-over-done security system was put into place that the entrance next to the Dennis Building on Assembly Street was “Legislators Only”. Were they afraid that they might get caught in the horrendous lines that accumulated at all the other entrances caused by the unnecessary fiasco they created?
-Thanks to this Legislators only lane, they removed all parking spaces from in front of the building that houses one of the few public offices in the complex-DNR’s Boat Titling and Registration. So now elderly and handicapped folks have to park at the center of the street parking and battle crossing Assembly Street just to get to the office. Also, there was an incident where a delivery driver, who was trying to make their route, quickly parked at the end of the Legislator’s Only lane and was accosted by none other than Hugh Leatherman-and there was no doubt it was him because he started the conversation with this driver as “Do you know who I am?” Remarkably, he did identify himself as Hugh Leatherman instead of God Almighty……

I was disgusted a few years ago, when visiting another building on the complex to find that although everyone else has to smoke (yes, I know, no one should smoke, but reality time folks, lots of people still do)out of doors, except for the Legislators who have an indoor smoking room. Marked-no lie-SMOKING ROOM/SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES ONLY. Don’t you love it? Even Obama and Laura Bush can admit to being smokers, but for some reason our Legislators feel the need to hide it?

But now you tell me that while hard-working employees have to fight to get to work everyday, we have private lobbyist who can park anywhere they want? Give me the tar!

Here are several stories we wrote about the new State House security …

http://www.fitsnews.com/2008/09/14/mr-mouse-tests-state-house-security/
http://www.fitsnews.com/2008/09/16/new-state-house-security-still-offline/
http://www.fitsnews.com/2008/11/14/state-house-security-criticized-again/

And yes, that’s a stuffed animal doing investigative reporting …

-FITS

its a $6 million failure. they cannot even turn it on due to its shitty construction.

where’s that story?