PEP March 2003: Editorial, Lillian Roberts: Needed: high level Commission on Waste.

I recently issued our third DC 37 White Paper on the vast savings our city government could achieve by replacing overpriced consultants and high-cost outside contractors with public employees.

White Paper III, “Building Schools for Less,” (PDF format*) details a world of waste at the School Construction Authority. SCA has targeted dozens of professional employees for layoffs even as it continues to funnel tax dollars to a parallel work force at outside design firms. The study of misspending at SCA shows specific examples of how the agency is paying the private sector more for work that civil servants can do better and for less money.

Schools designed by union members “in-house” at SCA cost on average $340 per square foot to build, while projects designed by private firms cost an average of $430 per square foot.
Work by consultants generates tremendous financial waste. Inferior designs and excessive profits create cost overruns. Design errors and omissions by outside firms push outlays above original contract amounts by 10.5 percent, compared with only 2.1 percent — well within the normal range — for in-house staff. (For more details, see 'Shadow Government rips off schools'.)

SCA has done no cost analysis to show that cutting in-house staff will save money. In fact, there is no need for any layoffs, which could boomerang by leading to greater reliance on costly consultants. It would be disgraceful to eliminate dedicated professional staff while the agency continues to contract out.

In contrast to its current wasteful spending, SCA could begin saving $200 million a year tomorrow, according to our new White Paper.

“Building Schools for Less” comes on top of two earlier White Papers, which pointed out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of overspending by the city and the Dept. of Education. All together, the three studies document more than $600 million a year in potential savings — a tremendous opportunity for action during the city’s worst fiscal crisis since the 1970s.

Some smart managers have begun to implement White Paper ideas piecemeal (see page 21), but the administration has thus far failed to take a comprehensive approach to cutting waste, saving more and misspending less.

What we need at this point is a high-level Commission on Waste to investigate the inappropriate use of consultants and contractors. The commission must include representatives of the mayor, the comptroller and the City Council, business leaders who do not have contracts with the city, and DC 37 and other municipal unions.

Pressure to create the Commission on Waste is growing. As our political activists came together to plan the union’s legislative agenda (pages 8-9), we asked them to write to Mayor Bloomberg, City Council speaker Gifford Miller, and their individual City Council members.

At their next meeting, DC 37’s Shop Stewards will be preparing for a giant demonstration in April to raise our voice loud and clear. They will also get sample letters and workplace petitions demanding a Commission on Waste.

Your letter could make a difference
Activists have already sent thousands of letters, and now I am asking every member to get involved in this important campaign for a Commission on Waste. Write to your City Council member, Speaker A. Gifford Miller and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at City Hall, New York, NY 10007.

If you want sample letters, the name of your City Council member, or a petition for you and co-workers to sign, call the DC 37 Political Action and Legislation Dept. at (212) 815-1550.

We have received encouraging support from Comptroller William Thompson, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields and many City Council members, including Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins, Finance Chair David Weprin, Contracts Chair Robert Jackson and Speaker Miller. Council members Helen Sears and David Yassky stood with our union group on the steps of City Hall Feb. 20 as we announced the third White Paper.

Speaker Miller has already pledged that during the March City Council hearings on the mayor’s budget proposals, agency commissioners will face thorough questioning on why there is so much contracting out.

Mr. Miller calls our White Papers “a common sense approach to dealing with the current crisis.” Mr. Mayor, that’s what we are fighting for: economic justice for our members and economic common sense for the city government.