A watershed moment in an acrimonious battle between local labor and business occured Tuesday when the San Jose City Council reversed its vote to rebid the construction of the Educational Park Library and awarded the contract to low bidder Barry Swenson Builder.
The vote was 6 to 5, with union-aligned councilmembers Nora Campos, Kansen Chu, Ash Kalra, Madison Nguyen and Nancy Pyle opposed.
Barry Swenson smiled broadly as he was congratulated by supporters after the victory. “I’ve never seen this happen before” he said as he looked at the portraits of past mayors in the hallway outside the Council Chambers. “I’ve done business under eight of those mayors. I’ve never seen the unions come in before and confuse the city council and get them to throw out all of the bids.”
“My family’s been doing business here almost 100 years, since my grandfather came here to build the De Anza Hotel.”
Building Trades official Neil Struthers, who showed up with a contingent of union supporters, expressed displeasure with the outcome. “I think this whole thing was rigged,” he said, though his comments echoed Swenson’s in noting the precedent-setting nature of the course of events.
“No one has ever gotten a re-do,” Struthers said. This has never happened before.
“The contractor falsified information. They ignored it. They worked without a license. They ignored it. They waived sunshine to get this back on the agenda — and this is a mayor that ran on sunshine.”
“Barry doesn’t deserve special consideration, and that’s what he got here,” he said.
“I don’t think this is over.”
Turning his comments to the contracting community, Struthers, who is married to councilmember Campos, added, “If I were one of them, I’d sue the city. I think they have a good case.”
Before the vote, councilmembers disclosed conversations they’d had with advocates on either side of the issue. Councilmember Judy Chirco, who is battling cancer and missed the last vote, was alone in stating “I didn’t meet with anyone and I didn’t talk to anyone.” Chirco voted to award the contract to Swenson.
Councilmember Rose Herrera, who called for the reconsideration vote after returning from a cruise vacation in Europe, said she hadn’t met with interested parties, but that her staff had. Herrera changed positions since her June 23 vote, when she supported the rebid, to vote with the majority on Tuesday.
Councilmember Campos acknowledged that she had had a conversation with an advocate for throwing out the bids, presumably her husband. “I want to disclose that I had a discussion with the building trades regarding the fact sheet that they sent.”
Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio dismissed the technical arguments made against Swenson’s welding subcontractor. “I think those arguments are vapor,” he said from the dais.
And, addressing those who argued that the council couldn’t take a second look at an issue they considered as one of the last agenda items on the eve of summer recess, he added, “We can consider anything we want… that’s our darned right because we are elected.”
Councilmember Pete Constant rejected the notion of a secret process before supporting Swenson’s selection to build the new library. “This bid has gotten more eyeballs and sunlight on it than any proposal I can remember,” he said.
Construction on the $7 million project will now proceed on schedule. A second bite at the bid process could have set the clock back on the Eastside neighborhood library by as much as six months, city public works officials estimated.
Politics
Swenson Wins Library Bid
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Building trades official Neil Struthers lashed out at
what he considers a rigged, nontransparent process.
Kudos to Barry for standing up to the thugs. Let’s hope more people do so and we can get all their actions out into the open.
Labor took it in the chops. Can you say, “losing its grip on local politics?”
Why was Campos voting? Her husband has a vital interest in the outcome of the vote. She should have recused herself.
For once reason and fiscal responsibility won out, even if just barely.
Nora should have recused herself. And if she declined to, the city attorney should have stepped in to require it. The situation with her and her husband is no different than the Carr situation.
What new library is being built on the Eastside? I know the Dr. Roberto Cruz Library at Alum Rock and White is new, and the Hillview Library is also new. So where is the new library located? I did not realize there were so many in East San Jose who can read. Or maybe they are just checking out DVDs.
Greg,
Let’s not get to excited. It was a 6-5 vote. Hererra flipped, but could just as easily flip back. Labor got caught. They were doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons—punishing Swenson for teaming with McEnery.
On other issues they can just as easily prevail. But this situation does proven how morally bankrupt the labor leadership is and how arrogant they are to think they can punish someone using these tactics.
Let’s hope more people call out labor leaders in the future.
Why does San Jose Inside allow racist comments like those in #6? I also have recently noticed the knee jerk reaction against Campos, Chavez, and Gonzales. Could there be more to it than policy differences?
Moderator,
Can’t answer your question but you bring to mind one of the bright spots of Council meetings in the past. When Cindy wanted to show her favor for a particular issue, her eyes would light up like a Las Vegas marquee and she would so demonstratively exclaim, “I’m soooooo excited!” Gosh, I sure do miss that.
#7-Where’s the Moderator?
Good question. I agree.
I found this remark offensive myself. “I did not realize there were so many in East San Jose who can read. Or maybe they are just checking out DVDs.”
#7 asked:“also have recently noticed the knee jerk reaction against Campos, Chavez, and Gonzales. Could there be more to it than policy differences?”
Ah, no—they all deserve it. They are all bought and paid for shills.
#7
As an East San Jose resident, I do not feel post #6 is in any way racist. Rather, it appears to be a jab at the overall educational level of East San Jose residents. Of course, it is broadbased, so in a literal sense it is incorrect, and lumps the educated with the uneducated. However, it is on target, and thus achieves the goal of poking fun at the expense of the library, the East San Jose school system, and East San Jose residents.
Also, just an FYI. I am assuming you feel that since East San Jose is predominately Latino then the joke is “racist”. However, there is one small problem. There is no such thing as a Latino or Hispanic race.
Perhaps you meant cultural instead of racial.
We’re getting a little oversensitive aren’t we? #11 nails it, and this oversensitivity to perceived racism is what’s wrong with this country as we recently discovered in Cambridge.
#7>>“I also have recently noticed the knee jerk reaction against Campos, Chavez, and Gonzales. Could there be more to it than policy differences?”
I believe it is standard practice to play the race card (culture card?) only after you have exhausted all other options.
Reposting my comment that never made it.
#7-Where’s the Moderator?,
I agree. That comment was offensive to me too. I don’t think it is racist, but it is uncalled for.