The Downtown Library Gets Tangled in Carl DeMaio’s Mess

Councilmember's Proposed Law Would Derail Funding For Downtown "Schoolbrary"

SAN DIEGO – (April 29, 2010) – As San Diego waits for a new price tag to be unveiled for the Downtown Library today, civic leaders will want to pay special attention to the impact that Councilman Carl DeMaio's proposed charter amendment will have on the financing of the "Schoolbrary."

If approved by voters, DeMaio's measure would ban the City of San Diego from constructing the Downtown Library with funding from the San Diego Unified School District because the school funds are subject to the State Prevailing Wage Law. Under State Prevailing Wage Law (section 1777.5(m) of the California Labor Code), projects that are subject to the law include a requirement that contributions be made on behalf of an employee to apprenticeship trust funds.

Under DeMaio's proposed law, the City "shall not fund, in whole or in part, or enter into any service contract or contract for the construction, maintenance, repair, improvement or replacement of public works projects which contains a requirement that a contracting party ... be required to make payments on behalf of employees to union benefit plans or other trust funds." (Section 227(c)(4) of proposal), according to a legal expert. The State Prevailing Wage Law applies to School District funds regardless of the Project Labor Agreement covering School District work funded by the Proposition S bond.

This section of DeMaio's proposal is similar to the wording found in the Proposition G ballot measure that is before Chula Vista voters in the June 8 primary election. The potential consequences of this section, whether they are unintended or just unspoken, generated widespread opposition in the Chula Vista community ranging from every sitting elected official in the county's second-largest city who has taken a position on Proposition G to business leaders at the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce.

For San Diego's civic and political leaders, it begs the question: will they allow DeMaio to stop prevailing wage projects in the City of San Diego like the Schoolbrary and other major civic projects, or will they join the community of Chula Vista in rejecting half-baked propositions that were hatched to set up legal test cases in which the government contractors can fight their battles against construction workplace standards at the expense of progress in their city?

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders was informed of the DeMaio proposal's impact on the Downtown Library in an April 27, 2010 letter (attached).

Aside from tangling the Downtown Library into a brand new mess, DeMaio's initiative poses other threats to the City of San Diego. If passed, DeMaio's proposal would:

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