HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC RES 98-017RESOLUTION NO. 98-17
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, EXPRESSING OPPOSITION
TO THE SO-CALLED "GOVERNMENT COST SAVINGS AND
TAXPAYERS PROTECTION AMENDMENT," AN INITIATIVE
MEASURE ON THE JUNE 1998 STATEWIDE BALLOT
WHEREAS, billions of dollars of critical building, engineering and design
projects, from seismic retrofitting to flood control to schools and hospitals, are underway
every day in California; and
WHEREAS, state, regional and local governments are currently allowed the
flexibility to contract with private firms on a competitive basis for the design of these
projects; and
WHEREAS, this process allows government the essential flexibility to use
private engineering, architectural and related design firms to deliver a project on time and
cost effectively; and
WHEREAS, the so called "Government Cost Savings and Taxpayers
Protection Amendment" completely changes the process by giving a state bureaucracy a
virtual monopoly on designing every project; and
WHEREAS, this would force cities, counties, schools, special districts,
regional governments and even many private businesses to use the state bureaucracy to
design roads parks, hospitals, health clinics, schools, water treatment facilities, flood
control walls and other critical structures -- including all engineering, design, geologica
and environmental work; and
WHEREAS, virtually every school and hospital has been designed by private
firms, not state government; and
WHEREAS, the proposed initiative eliminates legal control and forces
communities to rely on the out-of-town state bureaucracy for the design work; and
WHEREAS, local governments would not be able to hold the state
bureaucracy accountable; and
WHEREAS, the initiative gives one state politician, the State Controller,
enormous power to decide who gets tens of thousands of design and building projects
worth billions of dollars; and
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WHEREAS, the State Controller would have to analyze tens of thousands of
proposed contracts per year costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in
additional expenses; and
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WHEREAS, to meet potential workload demands, hundreds, if not thousands,
of state employees would need to be employed and paid, even if no projects were
underway; and
WHEREAS, taxpayers would pick up the tab for billions in extra costs for
projects, lost jobs and more state employees to evaluate projects; and
WHEREAS, this could result in significant delays on important local and state
projects.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of
Palm Desert, as follows:
Section 1: That the Palm Desert City Council opposes the so-called "Government Cost
Savings and Taxpayers Protection Amendment" which, if passed, would cost
our cities, counties, special districts and economy millions of dollars.
Section 2. That the Palm Desert City Council supports the efforts of the growing
coalition of Taxpayers Fed Up With More State Bureaucracy (Fed Up) in its
pursuit of informing the voters about the potentially devastating impacts of
the "Government Cost Savings and Taxpayers Protection AmendmenY' on
local governments and the entire State of California.
Passed, approved and adopted by the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, on
this �day of Februarv, 1998, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
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SHEILA R. LLIGAN,
CITY OF PALM DESER
CRITES, KELLY, SPIEGEL, BENSON
NONE
FERGUSON
NONE
CLERK
LIFORNIA
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JF�AN M. BENSON, MAYOR
�ITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA
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