Joined by two members of the WW-P school board, some of the residents at the West Windsor council meeting on May 19 who were disgruntled over the council’s salary increase also voiced opposition to the quality bidder measure approved that night by a 3-2 vote.##M:[more]##
The measure calls for the mayor to issue an executive order requiring that contractors bidding on large township projects provide pension plans, health benefits, and apprenticeship-training programs for their employees.
The resolution states that “the quality of construction is better with businesses that have apprenticeship training programs.”
Council President Will Anklowitz has said that the move simply ensures contractors are treating their employees well. He also said the resolution ensures that on big projects, the company’s employees are capable of what they’re doing, and that it saves the township from having to pay more for faulty work done by unqualified workers.
Councilwoman Linda Geevers, who voted against the measure, has said the measure would reduce competition and could lead to increased costs in construction.
Before a vote on the matter, Robert Johnson, school board vice president and chair of the board’s finance committee, agreed with Geevers and said that passing the resolution would “certainly increase greatly the cost of projects because they greatly reduce competition.”
He said he was not speaking on behalf of the board, but said that if this measure was in place on the school board and bids came in that were too high, “I would vigorously oppose them because we couldn’t afford them.”
Stan Katz, another school board member who has served on the finance committee for the last 12 years, also spoke out against the measure. He said the school board awards an average of three to four contracts a month with about three to four bidders on each project. And the “difference between the winning bid and the next bid usually is in the neighborhood of 10 percent,” he said. He said the notion of limiting the types of contractors that could bid on a project was “bizarre” and that the state took “great care” to eliminate the need for this type of resolution with the regulations in the public contracts law.
In addition, he said that just because a contractor has an apprenticeship program, it “doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is that much better.” He said the township needs the ability to have a choice, and that passing the measure would probably eliminate about 30 percent of the companies that would be able to bid for large projects.
“The only people that are going to pay for the higher costs on these contracts are the public,” he said.
Resident Andy Bromberg said he felt the council shouldn’t make it mandatory for a contractor to have apprenticeship programs, but rather that it should consider such programs “nice-to-haves.”
Resident Ed O’Mara said it’s the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the employees are treated well, and that passing the measure would “increase our taxes like crazy. It’s restrictive government in my opinion.”
Resident David Brienza said that Anklowitz “should recuse himself because he’s a shop steward for unions,” a reference to pay-to-play concerns raised by Geevers, who questioned earlier this month whether the motives of the council majority — Anklowitz, Charles Morgan, and George Borek — stemmed from contributions they received from labor unions, which usually provide such apprenticeships and benefits, during their last campaign. The councilmen denied those claims.
Township Attorney Michael Herbert said that adopting the resolution would not violate any laws or state statutes.
Morgan said that “the concerns expressed here tonight are way overblown.” He pointed out that the mayor could decide whether to issue an executive order to include such restrictions in a bid package on a big project. And, he said, “apprenticeship programs can be as simple as on-the-job training.”
Anklowitz also emphasized that the executive order would be at the mayor’s discretion, and that because the measure provides flexibility, the mayor could potentially offer a waiver to certain companies that may not meet all of the stricter requirements. Following the meeting, Anklowitz pointed out that the county freeholders had passed an ordinance requiring quality bidders for construction. He said the county formerly had a measure like West Windsor’s, which required an executive order. “Now they’ve gone to the next step and made it a full blown ordinance,” he said.
Borek said the move ensures “scrupulous contractors” would not be working on township projects. He also said that some contractors hire day workers and undocumented immigrants so that they can offer lesser wages and avoid spending money to provide healthcare costs to the workers. He said the move “would even the playing field and ensure they’re taking care of their workers,” and that their workers are properly trained to do the work.
Geevers balked at the suggestion. She said, for example, that the contractors hired by the school board — which does not have a quality bidder policy in place — were “not hiring workers off the street.”
“This is an outrage,” she said. “It will cost you a fortune.”
Kleinman also voted against the measure, saying that she didn’t receive enough information regarding bids that were submitted by contractors for work on projects like the Princeton Junction firehouse and the senior center, both big upcoming projects. She said she wanted to see more information about “who has presented a bid and who those firms are to see if those firms would be affected by this,” she said. Because there wasn’t enough information available, she said she felt “we should postpone this.” “I can’t support it because I just feel we should be waiting,” she said.
After the meeting, Hsueh said that although “in the past seven years, we never had any problem in getting quality contracts with the lowest prices,” the resolution would “definitely” encourage him to “exercise my additional authority” on a case-by-case basis at his discretion. “I will do whatever it takes to get the quality contractors with the lowest prices,” he said. “If I need to exercise that authority, I will do it. If I don’t need to do it, I won’t.”
He said he will continue to look out for the best interests of taxpayers in West Windsor. Still, “I definitely don’t want people to feel we have been doing something wrong. We have been doing a great job.”
