Contract Awards For City Of SB, Wisdom, And Voting Musings🧐
Dear all,
What a week it's been. Are you in the very small minority of people who voted? Or are you in the 77% of people who did not vote? Or do you own a second home here and do not vote locally? It's OK either way you don't have to share. The odds are you didn't vote.
Kiel and I are in the 23% of voters making up the lowest turn out in voting history in our county. Sad, but I guess not totally surprising. What is there to believe in anymore? It's confusing times, but we still vote. Because who knows, maybe it does matter? And if it does, then I want our votes to be counted. And if it doesn't, then no harm no foul. Unless you get called to jury duty, which can be quite burdensome for those who own businesses and have young children especially.
Anyways, my dad always told me "please vote!" And so I do. Mostly to honor his memory. But it is complicated. Just like most things.
I thought it was worth writing about Ballot Measure A,regarding construction contract awards. This ballot measure (that passed by 72% spoiler alert) importantly addresses the below per the article in Noozhawk published on 2/8/24.
"For larger contracts, the city would work with qualified contractors and set up criteria ahead of time. The selection process would consider not just cost, but the experience and past performance of the company. The city wants to make a list of qualified contractors for work in the $75,000-$500,000 range, and directly negotiate “small value contracts” under $75,000.
Mayor Randy Rowse and others argue that the change will be better for large, complex projects to “ensure interest from top-tier, more experienced contractors who often will not participate in projects where contracts are awarded by low bid.”
The passing of this measure reminds us all of the true costs of going with the lowest bidder. It's the oldest trick in the book and people still fall for it. You get what you pay for people!
I also am pasting in this succinct and thoughtful letter to the editor by a woman I do not know, but sincerely appreciate. Thank you to the voters for knowing the true cost of going with the cheapest. And thank you for Maragaret Crocco (random letter to the editor writer that I vibe with on this topic) for speaking up on the library project, which was awarded to an out of town contractor who has zero investment or accountability in our local community. Sad. Let's do better. Please enjoy this letter to the editor and rest assured knowing Measure A did in fact pass. Hope you have a nice weekend. Please call us if you want to work with high quality honest folks who will do you and your project right.
Yes on Measure A By Margaret S. Crocco, S.B.
Published Thu Feb 15, 2024 | 4:57pm SB Independent
I encourage citizens of Santa Barbara to vote “yes” on the charter amendment question (Measure A2024) appearing on the March 5 ballot. I serve as chair of the Santa Barbara Library Advisory Board but write today as an individual voter and not on behalf of this board.
I write because serving on the Library Advisory Board has provided a close-up of the problems resulting from the award of construction contracts based on lowest-cost bidder.
Over the last two years, three construction projects at the library, including renovation of the Library Plaza, were undertaken by a construction company awarded the contract based on its lowest-cost bid. Almost from the start, the project ran into numerous delays and problems necessitating repeated change orders. Given the accumulation of change orders, the total cost to the city for this work far exceeded the original bid and greatly delayed completion of the project.
In the next five years, Santa Barbara anticipates capital improvement projects that have been estimated by this newspaper to amount to half-billion dollars. Thus, it is imperative that Santa Barbara enacts, as many California cities have already, a “best value” formulation in awarding construction contracts. Adopting a more modern approach to awarding contracts requires changing the city charter.
The library’s recent experience might be seen as a “canary-in-the-coal mine” signal of the false economies from bids awarded based on lowest cost. I encourage my fellow citizens to vote “yes” on the charter amendment revision.
