OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino writes in todays OC Register: The County spends many more billions of dollars outsourcing work to private contractors than it pays for county employees—even with their pensions—to provide critical services to the community. Just weeks ago, the grand jury sharply criticized the Board of Supervisors for serious deficiencies in their contracting program. More than $3 billion of the $5.39 billion under the board’s control is spent on contracts with private corporations. Apparently, the Register has a difficult time connecting the dots. Outsourcing government services is an enormous cottage industry that provides a huge windfall of taxpayer dollars to corporations while at the same time providing politicians with political contributions. Here is my take on how it works if you want to do business in the county: Step 1. You hire a lobbyist. Step 2. The lobbyist assists you in making a political contribution to each member of the Board of Supervisors. Step 3. The lobbyist uses his or her influence by bundling money from other clients to help you. Your contribution money goes to help his or her other clients in their future requests for corporate handouts in the form of government contracts. Step 4. The lobbyist often hosts a fundraiser for the board members and invites their other clients to attend and contribute more money to the board member. Step 5. The lobbyist helps you design your bid to assist you in winning the contract. Step 6. The lobbyist often attends the meeting at which your contract bid is being voted upon and positions him or herself where the board members can see them from the dais. Step 7: After you receive the contract at the price you pitched, your lobbyist might appear on your behalf to get you “Change Orders,” which add more money to your contract, add to your profit, make all the money you gave the politicians worth the investments and rip off the taxpayers. Millions of dollars change hands between contributors and county politicians throughout their terms. The politicians use this money to advance their political careers and run for other offices. This contracting cycle has been around forever. Apparently, the only folks to miss it are the editorial staff at the Register.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 17:41:18 +0000
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