The state judiciary last week defended the use of 23-karat gold leaf in a renovation outside state Supreme Court offices in the Licht Judicial Complex.

“We had peeling paint, we had deteriorating plaster, we had stained ceilings. This area had been neglected for many, many years,” court spokesman Craig N. Berke told Political Scene. “This is a magnificent structure. We have an obligation to all of our citizens, all taxpayers, to maintain this building. The gold leaf is restoring that trim to its original state.”

The renovation, which has taken about a month, cost taxpayers $34,661, according to Berke. Work was focused on the Supreme Court lobby’s ceiling and molding, according to an estimate provided by the court system that specified gold would be used: “Crown and cornice moldings will be glazed with a custom colored glazing liquid and the cornice moldings will be tip-gilded with 23k Giusto Manetti gold leaf,” reads the estimate, which included other upgrades such as painting and patching cracks.

Berke could not provide the cost of the gold leaf, which, according to the packaging, came from Giusto Manetti Firenze Goldbeaters, a Florence exporter.

Berke said the renovation was among a list of projects that had been reviewed by the state court administrator. Berke said he did not know whether Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, the head of the judiciary, had reviewed the project.

The use of gold leaf had prompted criticism by Providence lawyer Keven A. McKenna.

“Now do you believe that ‘King Frank’ does not care a whit about the will of the R.I. voters? Did the General Assembly cut back medical benefits for the poor in order that Williams could install gold leaf?” McKenna said in a statement.

The Providence Democrat called on Republican Governor Carcieri to “undertake immediately an audit of Williams’ use of the millions of public dollars under his control.”

“Donald Carcieri should not be afraid of auditing our Republican Chief Justice’s administrative use of state funds,” McKenna said.

The governor’s spokeswoman Amy Kempe said today that Carcieri would not intervene. “It would appear that an audit of the judicial branch falls outside the scope of the authority of the executive branch,” she said.

Berke dismissed McKenna’s criticism: “This is nothing new from Mr. McKenna,” Berke said.

State House info center joins the computer age

In other renovation news, the secretary of state’s office will spend about $7,000 to upgrade the State House’s “public information center.”

The basement offices have traditionally housed a public computer, conference room, paper copies of all legislation, and two televisions on which lobbyists sometimes gather to watch late-night sessions.

But the public areas are about to be dramatically improved.

“Gone are the wooden file cabinets that held tens of thousands of paper copies of the thousands of bills and resolutions that are submitted in the General Assembly every session. Coming are four computer work stations with wireless Internet access tied to a high-speed printer,” says the secretary of state’s spokesman, Chris Barnett.

Political Scene learned that the upgrade will also include a public lounge with couches in which lobbyists and members of the public can watch live legislative sessions.

Most of the work is being done by inmates of the Adult Correctional Institutions, according to Barnett, who expects the renovations to be complete by the end of the month. He characterized the upgrade as “an investment.”

“We think sometime in year 2, with the cost savings just from printing those 70,000 sheets of paper every year, it’ll be a wash,” he said.

The public information will continue to be open for business throughout the construction process.

New in Roberts’ office

State House regular Matt Auten has a new job.

After five years of working for environmental advocacy groups — most recently Environment Rhode Island — Auten has been tapped by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts as her senior policy analyst.

Auten, 28, is among the few dozen State House lobbyists who patrol the marble hallways most legislative days during the session. Now he’ll be in the State House full time.

He will start in Roberts’ first-floor office next Monday at a salary of $51,493 a year, according to Roberts’ spokesman Michael Tanaka.

“We’re not adding a staffer, but filling an existing position recently vacated by Eli Zupnick,” said Tanaka. Zupnick left last month to work in Sen. Barack Obama’s Washington state presidential campaign.

Auten, in an e-mail to friends and media, said he is “honored to have the opportunity” to work for the lieutenant governor.

Volunteer for McCain

The Rhode Island GOP has named an almost-House candidate as the volunteer coordinator for the McCain-for-President effort in Rhode Island.

The party’s new executive director, Marc Pappas, confirmed last week that state Republican Chairman Giovanni Cicione tapped Eileen Grossman of Cranston for the job. For now, that means Grossman is working with other volunteers making phone calls on McCain’s behalf here in Rhode Island.

A sales and marketing employee in Wyndham Worldwide’s vacation-ownership division, Grossman was a declared Republican candidate for the District 16 House seat held by Rep. Peter G. Palumbo, D-Cranston. She collected the requisite number of signatures required on nominating papers to run, but withdrew from the race when she got what she considered a much better offer from Cicione a few weeks back.

Given the choice of volunteering her time to the McCain campaign and running for the state legislature, she said: “Oh my God. That’s what I want. I want to get John McCain elected. That’s a higher calling for me.”

“I trust John McCain in time of terror,” she explained to Political Scene. “And let’s face it, George Bush has not done that bad. We have not been attacked since 2001. He has kept us safe and John McCain will do the same thing.”

Asked how she viewed disclosures about the pregnancy of vice presidential pick Sarah Palin’s unmarried teenage daughter\, Grossman said: “I think it’s wonderful for the campaign because I believe no wives or children are fair game.”

Noting that Palin, the governor of Alaska, married her “high school sweetheart,” Grossman said: “You are in Anchorage, Alaska. Who are you going to meet, you know? I mean it seems that Alaskans marry very young ... and I believe she [daughter Bristol] is engaged to the chap,” so “I don’t think it will hurt us at all.”

kgregg@projo.com