Local architects cheer failure of California plan

Brian Seals

Wednesday, June 3, 1998 | 11:01 a.m.

In a race closely watched by the nation's architects and engineers, California voters defeated a proposal that could have steered more public project design work to government employees.

Proposition 224 would have required competitive bidding for state projects exceeding $50,000. Opponents say that would take qualifications out of the equation in awarding contracts and result in costly delays and business diverted from the private sector. Th proposition failed by a 62 percent to 38 percent margin.

Nevada architects are hopeful Tuesday's vote will hinder similar efforts in other states.

"It sounded like California was the breeding ground for it," said John Treston, president of the Las Vegas chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Backers of the measure claimed it would end pork-like deals politicians garner for supporters in the form of no-bid projects. The Professional Engineers in California Government, a union, pushed the proposal.

Opponents claimed it would give a built-in advantage to government-employed architects and engineers. With no overhead or taxes to pay, as do private firms, state engineers would likely submit lower bids.

"We feel that would reverse a national trend of privatizing government services," said Nevada AIA President Brad Shulz.

He said the qualifications-based system of awarding contracts works well from the federal government level to the local government level.

Similar efforts are expected in New York, Massachusetts, Kansas and Hawaii -- but so far not in Nevada. Nevada architects say they will continue to observe these proposals.

"We'll keep an eye on other states to see if there are any groups in other states trying to get this passed," Shulz said.

Proposition 224 opponents raised $4 million by mid-May, according the California Secretary of State's office. The National AIA donated about $140,000 of that. Supporters of the measure raised about $696,000.