On Saturday I visited the Valencia library to do some research on, ironically, the Civil Service system established in the wake of the 1882 Pendleton Act.
I hadn’t been to the library since the City Council’s vote to evict COLA from the SCV, so, suffice it to say, I was researching more than one topic as I often do when visiting places in the SCV.
The Valencia library has been extensively modernized in the last few years. In place of the long service desk that used to occupy the entrance, there are now several self-service checkout kiosks with bar code readers and bright LCD displays. Free WiFi is available to those with a Library card and pin number, and the place, as usual, was a bustling hive of activity. The Valencia library is the best-used non-park public resource in the SCV, in my opinion.
I sat down with a reference librarian to talk about my project. As she searched for resources on the Pendleton Act, I asked her about the secession from COLA and whether she would apply for a job with LSSI.
She looked uncomfortable, as if she had been asked that by a lot of patrons. She had a quick answer as she glanced away.
“No. I think most of us are going to stay with the County,” she told me.
And why wouldn’t she? To merge my two research topics briefly, the Pendleton Act established the merit system for civil service. Before the Pendleton Act, people were employed by local and federal governments based on who, rather than what, they knew. The “spoils system,” as it was called, applied to just about every public employee, from Cabinet Secretary to letter carrier, and your job as a civil servant literally depended on whether an elected official favored you and on the degree to which you financially supported that elected official. You, as a civil servant, were expected to fund the campaigns of your elected patrons. The system was entirely corrupt and, worse yet, tolerated incompetence.
In the decades after the Pendleton Act was signed into law, people who wanted to work for the government had to take exams to prove that they were competent. They had to be educated and know what they were doing. The power of local and national political bosses and parties diminished and the professionalism of government workers increased as a result. The professionalism we see in our city, county, state, federal government and even our local libraries today is a direct result of the Pendleton Act passed in the 19th Century.
But that was 128 years ago. Today we’re in a brave new world where we think our Civil servants are paid too much and are too entrenched in their jobs. Oh, it’s not that they do a bad job necessarily, it’s just that they cost too much. They may live among us as neighbors and work among us, but they’re costing us too much.
Our solution to this supposed problem, locally at least, is to fire them all and hire fewer private workers to do the same job at a lesser rate. Our solution is to unThink SCV and take the money we would have put in their salaries and pension and instead funnel it to a private company headquartered in Maryland. This great privatization experiment, we’re told, will yield better results.
Will it? I have no idea. But I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the hard-working and friendly library employees at the Valencia library on Saturday. In the wake of the “Great Recession,” they face an uncertain future, cast aside by a Santa Clarita City Council that professed love and appreciation for them but shucked them away as quickly as possible during a three hour Council meeting in August.
And what of our city staff, so certain in their analysis, so quick to dismiss public librarians? If privatization is good for the libraries, why not for City Hall? Why can’t we hire Ernst & Young in lieu of the Accounting & Finance people, HP or Dell in lieu of IT, and a local engineering company in lieu of the planning & engineering departments? What makes those workers so special over our library workers? Why should we fund their pensions if we can’t fund our librarians’?
I thumbed through a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s books on Saturday and ran across an instructive quote for those professional folks at City Hall, across the street from the Valencia library: “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
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Hear, hear.
While we have been watching the cost of the Library takeover increase, it is also interesting to watch the cost of the New Newhall library. Tomorrow night the council will vote to allocate the funds to start construction. Reviewing that agenda item I found some very interesting items.
1) A contingency of an additional $2 Million is being added to the Tobo construction costs. It seems that there is already recognition that the cost of this project will inflate over time. While this is not unusual, I find an initial estimate of 20% to be very high.
2) An” increased expenditure in the amount of $470,000 to the existing contract with MNS Engineers, Inc., for construction inspection, environmental support, and project support services”. Why would we need to pay for additional inspections? Don’t we have a Building and Safety department that employs engineers as well as inspectors?
3) An ”expenditure to BTC Labs Vertical V in the amount of $150,000 for materials testing services”. A separate materials testing consultant? Why wasn’t this part of Tobo’s estimate?
4) An “expenditure to Padilla & Associates, Inc., in the amount of $50,000 for labor compliance services”. What is this for? With California “Prevailing Wage” laws (a misnomer at best) already causing the cost of public construction to be far greater than like private projects, now we need to also pay extra for another consultant to watch the contractor. Doesn’t the city already have a contracts/procurement organization to manage contract compliance.
All in all, this is our money staff is spending. We should watch this project very closely, as this $10.4 million project is really a $14 million project and construction has not even started.
Hi Alan:
First, a $2,000,000 contingency is very high for a $10MM construction budget. Normally, contingency for a new building is between 5 and 10%. Unless you think the plans suck or are incomplete, in which case you might want a higher contingency.
It is not unusual to hire third party inspectors but it is odd to add it to an existing engineering contract. City inspectors just do driveby’s whereby a third party inspector will look at things like concrete strength, using right materials, detailed reviews of anchorage, etc. We use a couple of third party inspection firms like Smith Emery and Twinning. I’d question whether MNS really has the right folks at the right cost for this service.
A third party testing lab would be an integral part of this inspection effort.
Padilla Associates is there to ensure the contractor is complying with prevailing wages and to report back to the state. It is a new requirement for public works.
Pretty sophisticated commentary by Al, who certain city employees dismiss as a “gadfly”. Perhaps there is a new meaning for the term gadfly: Someone who speaks an unpleasant truth.
Kenny the Scamp knows how to make things look better than they really are. He is a master at the shell game and knows how to use it to receive high marks and maximize his income. . The everyday taxpayer lacks the knowledge to understand the games Kenny plays. Thanks for calling him out Al. By the way, I indicated to you that Tobo would make up for their lowball bid with extras.
Alan, if you do some research on Tobo I think you will find that there is only very limited information available. I question why Tobo was even allowed to bid the project other than they are a DVBE DBE WBE MBE OBE qualified. Kenny the Scamp was right to protect himself with a 20% contingency and a high dollar third party inspection budget. I suspect the city has a mandate for minority spending, like it or not, and Kenny is trying to make the numbers. He is one slick cat!
Fantastic review Al. I would like to have this analysis presented to the council with a request for an explanation. It would be a great pleasure to see Mr City manager respond to this list of costs.
Jeff!
Dig your new retro photo! It’s a keeper…hope all is well and hope to see you soon!
@Jeff – Much of the new additions to the Valencia Library was brought about by The Friends of the Libraries of Santa Clarita Valley. The same goes for upgrades at the old Newhall Library a few years ago.
I believe the report as to the cost of the new Newhall Library is coming in under the original estimated cost.
Hi Navigator
Tobo’s latest construction bid did go down $350,000.
Are you aware of the location of data on the other items?
Srsly–the FOl money does NOT “bring about” upgrades. The FOl $ pays for books, movies, & programs. Period.
@Kevin – Srsly, check with the FOL. Storage containers, desks, computers, etc.
Well. I checked with them. And they didn’t buy desks. computers, and “etc.”
BTW, that SO firm referred to below has “etc.” by the bundle at very reasonable prices.
kthxbai
I guess we’ll need to find out where all the money went that was pledged to those upgrades a few years back.
“Why can’t we hire Ernst & Young in lieu of the Accounting & Finance people, HP or Dell in lieu of IT, and a local engineering company in lieu of the planning & engineering departments”
Because its cheaper to have City employees. Do you know how expensive it would be to hire these firms. Outsourcing is not always cheaper
Ummm, I think that was Jeff being sarcastic Greg. But if he wasn’t then a local CPA firm (or say, for more impartial independence, a smallish firm in, oh, I don’t know, San Fernando Valley, like, um, Sherman Oaks for instance) would make more sense than E&Y. Lower hourly rates and a more personal touch. Yeah, that would probably be better. Just a thought.
Why Scott, that’s a great idea. Where do we find such a firm?
I’ll DM you a firm that fits the bill.
Now WHERE is that DM button … hmmmm
Naw, those people usually are too desperate.
You know me?
Why yes, I’m The (soon to be) Mayor of Seven Cycles Secret Headquarters.
I’m sure I don’t know WHAT you’re talking about. And even if I DID, I’m sure my answer would be, “No. Way. #noteveninyourdreams.” (or words to that effect)
I love that Jeff was thumbing through a copy of an Ernest Hemmingway book. It was probably one of those books that doesn’t get checked out very often, but for Jeff wandering through the stacks and finding that famous quote, “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee” may have made his day.
Too often this conversation leaves out the most important component – being able to wander into your local library on a Saturday afternoon and read about stuff just because you want too.
I love that Jeff was thumbing through a copy of an Ernest Hemingway book. It was probably one of those books that doesn’t get checked out very often, but for Jeff wandering through the stacks and finding that famous quote, “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee” may have made his day.
Too often this conversation leaves out the most important component – being able to wander into your local library on a Saturday afternoon and read about stuff just because you want too.