You greatest worry Prposition 13 followed by the intro of the universal health care bill…..your life may change forever in 2012!!!!!!

Orange County Supervisor, Janet Nguyen, said it plainly when she was lamenting about a federal matching grant the other supervisors were balking on. “We should do this now. It’s free money”, or words to that effect. So, Democrat or Republican, Union guy or non-union guy, it is all the same to them. They think that tax money is free money.

Since you claim that I am a mouthpiece for the ABC, would you prefer that I regurgitate the talking points from your labor union, the AFL-CIO affiliated Building and Construction Trades Department?

School Districts have a vested interest in providing reports like San Diego’s because they all want more bond money for school construction and modernization. And because the construction is on state owned property, for state-run schools, Project Labor Agreements and prevailing wage agreements have to be used. But these agreements freeze out private sector contractors, who are just as qualified, skilled and trained as union contractors.

As for Barnett, no “staunch fiscal conservative” would ever claim that PLAs are good for taxpayers unless he was a big-government guy. And there are plenty of big-government Republicans who are not fiscally conservative.

Barnett also proposed a $50-per-parcel tax to raise $60 million a year and restore the employee pay cuts for the school district. What a “fiscally conservative” solution to the San Diego School District debt.

Who could forget the amazing Interstate 10, Santa Monica Freeway construction project after the 1994 Northridge earthquake? Contractor CC Meyers completed the repairs to the highway and bridges in only 66 days, instead of the 26 months (800+ days) Gov. Pete Wilson had been told the major repairs would take. Wilson created a bonus and incentive structure to get the repairs done more quickly. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people are incentivized to do good work on a timely basis, instead of being paid to just show up everyday.

Myers had done this previously with the I-580 San Francisco freeway repairs after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. He completed the project far ahead of schedule, and at much less cost to the state.

PLAs cost taxpayers and private sector companies much more than market-based bids, as the BCTD claims. And I haven’t even addressed how many non-union contractors report getting harassed and picketed by union contractors at jobs sites – that is for another story.

– Katy

The San Diego Unified School District report is a fraud. The district’s crooked consultant cherry picked data to refute the truth and district’s own data which found their PLA policy reduced competition and wasted money.

The real data, which can be found here, demonstrates how the district’s PLA policy reduced the number of bidders and left cost savings on the table:
http://thetruthaboutplas.com/2011/12/09/san-diego-unified-school-district-pla-reduced-competition-and-increased-costs/

And to your other point: Private companies use PLAs for a variety of reasons, including the fact that construction unions extort companies into using PLAs through a variety of underhanded corporate campaign and political tactics. Greenmail is a favorite in California.

Finally, you know ABC is not interested in promoting an illegal workforce. Stop lying. ABC wants skilled American citizens to build this country. They want to help their qualified member contractors win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably. All ABC members want is a fair CHANCE at competing for and winning taxpayer-funded construction projects. It will result in job for ALL Californians, not just Californians that are union members.

Go back to DC with the rest of the special interest slimeballs, Tom.