OK, let me get this straight
– it cost us – the taxpayers – $5,000 to design a concession
stand at Christopher High School, and the school board approved
that expense? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s a small example
in the $2.8 million additional costs approved for CHS this week,
but it’s indicative of the lapse in ov
ersight and only underscores a conclusion I’ve come to: school
districts have no business being in the construction business.
Contractors and architects beat them every time. Contractors know
the change-order game and architects know that trustees and
administrators won’t and don’t treat the money a
s if it were their own. So, the taxpayers get fleeced. There has
to be a better way. Empowering a paid three-person building panel
to oversee projects – people who have building and construction
management experience – could save taxpayers millions. With the
latest additions, the cost of Christo
pher High will end up at least hitting $180 million (probably
more). Now take a few seconds to think about this – AT
&
amp;T Park in San Francisco cost $357 million to build.
Unbelievable
…
OK, let me get this straight – it cost us – the taxpayers – $5,000 to design a concession stand at Christopher High School, and the school board approved that expense? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s a small example in the $2.8 million additional costs approved for CHS this week, but it’s indicative of the lapse in oversight and only underscores a conclusion I’ve come to: school districts have no business being in the construction business. Contractors and architects beat them every time. Contractors know the change-order game and architects know that trustees and administrators won’t and don’t treat the money as if it were their own. So, the taxpayers get fleeced. There has to be a better way. Empowering a paid three-person building panel to oversee projects – people who have building and construction management experience – could save taxpayers millions. With the latest additions, the cost of Christopher High will end up at least hitting $180 million (probably more). Now take a few seconds to think about this – AT&T Park in San Francisco cost $357 million to build. Unbelievable …
… Only fair to mention that Trustee Mark Good voted against the $1.8 million design fee for CHS’s second phase and against a $1 million change order that Deputy Superintendent of Business Services Enrique Palacios failed to explain. Can you imagine as a trustee asking, “So, do we know why did this $1 million change order happened?” Getting a “No” (or, “Hey buddy, that’s just taxpayer chump change”) in return, then voting FOR it? Francisco Dominguez and Denise Apuzzo voted with Good against the change order, but inexplicably Fred Tovar, Tom Bundros Javier Aguirre and even Rhoda Bress, who voted against the design fee, gave it the unquestioned stamp of approval. Again, unbelievable …
While we’re naming names, here’s a good one from “Dave” one of our intelligent web commentators. It’s the fast-growing $100,000-plus-annually California public pension club. Gilroy city has 11 members, including former city clerk Rhonda Pellin. And there are more to come. Morgan Hill has two, count ’em, two on the list: www.californiapensionreform.com/calpers
Sometimes, God love ’em, the Garlic Festival folks take their jobs way too seriously – and yes, I know they’re all volunteers and it can be a lot of work … but an example of late – not releasing the names of the judges beforehand for the Garlic Queen Pageant? What, lest they be bribed with a fresh loaf of g-bread, badgered with garlic breath or battered with stir-fry coating? It’s a mystery … have the judges have been on the take?
Taking a look at the new paint job on the SuperSave Market at the corner of First and Church streets is, ah, well … awful hard on the eyes. Don’t we have some planning standards that prevent traffic distractions at the worst intersection in Gilroy and set some standards for commercial sites? Or does that fall into the “we have a law, but we never do anything about it” category at City Hall like the messy street signs all over the place and the street vendors who set up everywhere and rob taxpaying local merchants of business?
Good local, local business is our new
Mo-Quepons service. Sign up on our Web site upper left corner and you get text messages generated by local businesses for savings from places like the new and cool Gilroy Express Car Wash, Red Brick Pizza and Chevy’s where you can pay half price for lunch and chat with “Jimmy Friendly” who serves on the bar side.
From the bar side of the moon, came this puzzlement when I received the announcement of the six college scholarships given out by the Gilroy Elks Lodge this year to South County students. That’s the Gilroy Elks Lodge, mind you, that didn’t receive one application from a Gilroy High School student. Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill sent 14 applications and picked up four scholarships. One Sobrato High School student earned cash as did a Valley Christian student. When I asked the Elks why, the answer was simple, “The scholarship coordinator from Live Oak High really pushes our scholarships.” There’s something wrong at Gilroy High in that entire arena, but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts Principal John Perales won’t let that culture become pervasive at Christopher High.
BTW, dollars to dumplings lost out to dollars to donuts somewhere around 1900. Guess donuts were perceived as having less value given the zero shape and all … maybe that’s why we dropped the …”gh” in the middle, too …
If you like succinct wisdom, here it is from a former city official: “I’ve been watching the fiscal mess. Some elected official needs to tell the unions that any reserves the city has belong to the citizens, not to the unions or the city employees. Binding arbitration needs to be repealed. Maybe it hasn’t been used very often, but the threat has always tainted contract negotiations.” Amen.
Amen to that brings us to Bogie er, Bogey, and Steve and Teresa Costa’s latest spaniel addition, Bunker. Steve wanted to call the new dog, Bacall, as in Lauren. Good idea, thought I, until it surfaced that Bunker is a boy. Then Bogie and Bacall went straight into z bunker and into the double bogey pile.
