OCTA Teaches Jobs Creation 101:
You know the facts: nationally, about 370,000 government
jobs were just "created" vs. only 41,000 private sector jobs. With
a real state unemployment rate nearing 20% (counting those underemployed and
those folks who just "gave up looking"), California needs two million jobs right now.
Even Orange County-damning by faint praise with
"only" a 9.5% unemployment rate-has lost almost 175,000 jobs,
with the transportation sector down over 40%.
But
good news for new jobs is here to share. Under the
leadership of City of Orange Mayor Carolyn Cavecche, who also serves on
Orange CountyTransportation Authority’s board of directors, a new OCTA
board policy
was unanimously adopted today: OCTA now has established as its target
that 100%
of all professional services allowed be contracted to the private
sector!
We’re talking local projects, highway projects and
freeway projects-all projects, which in the past, have been divided
between Caltrans using its in-house staff and OCTA using private firms to
perform the work.
That doesn’t mean Caltrans doesn’t get any work,
rather the OCTA "target" is to favor the private sector, with each
project looked at for its own unique needs and expertise, with appropriate
staff recommendations to the board-the right workers for the right
project.
What
is shocking is that more local transportation
authorities haven’t established this policy to help their own local
economies. Clearly, they have the authority to do so under Proposition
35,
passed by California voters in November 2000, where local and state
agencies
have the "choice and authority" to use private sector
services.Furthermore, that choice and authority exists regardless of
funding sources,
regardless of what agency programs the project, and regardless of
whether the
project is part of a state owned or operated facility, like a freeway.
In addition, opponents of Proposition 35-mostly
government unions-have used every conceivable lawsuit and legal argument
to set it aside in court, but in the end, every court at every
level-including the California Supreme Court twice
unanimously-rejected all of those legal challenges and upheld the
provisions of Prop 35.
Let’s call it "The Cavecche
Principle"-get your own local transportation authority to pass this
policy and help lead a statewide movement to put folks back to work starting
with each of our own local economies.
Our legislators can’t do it. The government unions
won’t do it. So let’s just do it ourselves.