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Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001

"From an economic development point of view this would give a boost to the whole area and create a lot of jobs," said Rangel, a Democrat who represents Harlem and pitched the idea to Clinton. "This is just a wonderful marriage."

Rangel's congressional office said Clinton is expected to announce that his new office will be at 55 W. 125th Street near 8th Avenue.

"The Charles A. Vincent building, named after the architect, is known as the 'CAV' building and it's located in an empowerment zone two and a half blocks from the Apollo Theater," Emil Milne, Rep. Rangel's spokesman told UPI. "The building is part of Harlem's economic renaissance and the building already has some federal tenants such as the Internal Revenue Service."

"I don't think we'd have so much excitement if the deal wasn't going through," Milne added.

According to Milne, rent in the large office building is about $30 a square foot – if Clinton still chose an 8,500-square-foor-office it could cost under $300,000 a year in rent, about the same amount as former President Reagan's office in Los Angeles.

"I may answer your questions tomorrow, but I don't want to say anything today," Clinton told reporters outside his Chappaqua, N.Y., home Monday, but his office said an announcement on the ex-president's office is expected to be made Tuesday.

Clinton has been under fire for the pricey digs at Carnegie Hall Towers because the yearly rent for the 8,500-square-foot office on the 56th floor was four times the amount paid by Ronald Reagan, or more than what former presidents Reagan, Bush, Carter and Ford pay for all their offices.

After being blasted by taxpayer watchdog groups for having the priciest office rent of any former president, on Feb. 7 Clinton offered to have his new foundation, The William J. Clinton Foundation, pick up about $300,000 a year of the rent.

"We'll try and work it out so what the taxpayer pays in New York on the square foot basis, per square foot is about what President Reagan pays," Clinton has said. "I think that's appropriate, you know, somewhere in that range, I'm not going to let the taxpayer get gigged on this."

Rep. Ernest Istook, an Oklahoma Republican and chairman of the House Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Subcommittee, which has oversight over former presidents' offices, said last week that he's concerned that the General Service Administration may enter into a lease agreement for an amount that exceeds the amount of funding requested and appropriated by Congress.

According to Istook, the final Clinton budget proposed $57,000 for rent for the final three months of the 2001 fiscal year, thus establishing an annual rate of $228,000 a year for Clinton's office rent. "Beyond the initial six months, the $256,000 total includes a specific line-item for rent," Istook explained.

Rep. Istook told UPI that Clinton's offer to pick up some of the rent is a "step in the right direction but that it doesn't solve the problem." "However, even if he got people to donate $300,000 a year, he's still asking taxpayers to pay $500,000 every year for his presidential penthouse," Istook said. "We appropriated a $228,000 [annual] rate, every penny he asked for. If the government signs the six-year lease, the taxpayers are still on the hook for the whole amount if people don't come up with $300,000 a year in gifts."

Congress passed an appropriation of $2,517,000 for fiscal 2001 for all former presidents' expenses including their pensions, offices, staff and postage, which included an increase of $256,000 that was entirely allocated for expenses incurred by Clinton.

Last week, Istook told UPI there were several options that could resolve the rent issue: Clinton could contribute more money toward the rent, he could seek an office on a lower floor of Carnegie Towers which would cost considerably less in rent, or he could seek an office in a less expensive building.

(C) 2001 UPI All Rights Reserved.

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