When the Dept. of Design and Construction consolidated city engineering and architecture in 1996, it virtually wiped out in-house designing.

"Architects and engineers who took city jobs to do in-house design have seen their work go to consultants," said Assistant Architect John Campbell. Mr. Campbell is the second vice president of Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375's Chapter 4, which represents architects, engineers and other technical employees in DDC's Structures Unit.

"The designers have been stifled, and their spirits have really been battered," said Mr. Campbell, a Project Director whose responsibilities include overseeing consultants. "It has destroyed part of these people's creative souls."

Local 375 President Claude Fort calls DDC a "consultants' support agency." DDC oversees a $1.5 billion annual budget in capital projects.

"We Can Do the Work," the union's blueprint for $600 million in savings, estimates that by bringing design, inspection and construction management in-house, the department could save $76 million a year.

"The Department of Design and Construction uses $1 billion a year for projects designed by consultants who are paid higher salaries and have higher administrative costs. Why the waste when we can do the job in-house? Stop privatization and use city workers to do the jobs they were hired to do." — Claude Fort Local 375 President

Mr. Campbell estimates that by doing work in-house, DDC could save 10 to 15 percent of the cost of work done by consultants and contractors. Members say they would save money by diminishing the need for additional review by in-house staff, reducing the "learning curve," and eliminating the profit factor.

Contracting out means that many city architects spend most of their time monitoring outside consultants. But Local 375 members have demonstrated that they can match the skills of their counterparts in the private sector.

Architect Jeffry Kieffer, for example, designed the Sunset Park Branch Library in the late 1990s. Mr. Campbell served as the project manager for design and Local 375 member and Engineer Lev Lerner was project manager for construction. Mr. Kieffer taught at the School of Architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, worked for the prominent Manhattan architect Richard Dattner and wrote a book about Louis I. Kahn, one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century.

"There is a real waste of talent here," said Mr. Kieffer. "I know probably 20 to 40 people who have left over the last four or five years."

Mr. Kieffer now oversees contracted out jobs. An in-house design staff could overcome the delays that now occur when city workers spot additional work that must be subcontracted, he said. "The advantage of an in-house design unit over a consultant is that coordination is usually easier and you cut down on inefficiency."

— Gregory N. Heires