Prop. 35 Pits Public Vs. Private Engineers

4 November 2000 - 8:00am

State architects and engineers and private firms are battlingto determine the outcome of Proposition 35, an initiative that wouldlift restrictions on the state and allow it to contract out to privatecompanies for public projects

The initiative would affecttransportation projects and Caltrans in particular. Supporters of theinitiative, which was placed on the ballot by the Consulting Engineersand Land Surveyors of California (CELSOC) ( http://www.celsoc.org/ ) ,say that Proposition 35 will allow state projects, such as highwayconstruction, to be completed more quickly because the state iscurrently understaffed and ill-equipped to deal with the amount ofconstruction expected in the next few years. Opponents, led by theProfessional Engineers in California Government (PECG) http://www.pecg.org/ ) , point out that Caltrans is currentlydelivering projects on time and there is no reason why they should notcontinue to do so.

Source: The Sacramento Bee, October 28, 2000