Sourcing out work not always a better option

Editor: A couple of recent letters have stated that contracting various city services are an alternative to the upcoming sales tax measure. This is not the case for several reasons.

Contractors have comparable costs for equipment and materials that they must charge in order to stay in business. In addition, they must pay various taxes and presumably earn a profit, both of which the city does not have to do. And labor rates are not always lower — state law requires “prevailing wages” be paid for many types of work for governmental agencies. Plus, contractors still need oversight, inspection and administrative effort to obtain bids and properly make payment that adds to the cost of the service.

With those caveats, the city already, and has for many decades, contracted out various types of work, including all major street repair, lane line painting, tree trimming, median landscape maintenance and sidewalk replacement, just to name a few. The services that lend themselves to contracting out are largely already being done that way.

The decision process to contract out or “do in-house” includes many factors, some of which are directly cost related and others less tangible. A direct reason would include the answer to the question “does the city have the staff, expertise or equipment necessary to do the work?” If the answer is no, and the cost of getting to a “yes” answer is uneconomical, then contracting is appropriate.

An example of a less tangible factor is emergency or unscheduled service — how important is it to have staff available to respond to storm damage or repairing various things that break unexpectedly? Contracting 100 percent of any activity means the city is unable to do the work if necessary for some unforeseen reason. Contracting is often cost effective when the scope of work is readily defined and there are multiple contractors available to do the work and get competitive bids.

I offer these comments from the perspective of having decades of experience in public works engineering and administration and from one who would gladly pay the small amount of additional sales tax to help maintain city services even though I do not live within the city limits. Lodi is important to the economic health of the entire north county and it needs to be financially healthy.

RICHARD PRIMA

Former Lodi Public Works Director

What do the Democrats want?

Editor: I wonder what in the world those do-nothing, anti-everything socialists, better known as Democrats, want?

We have seen more positive results obtained by President Donald Trump than in the last 16 years of do-nothing, butt-sitting presidents who both left our country as flat as a pancake, with nothing but problems.

I will not try to list all of the beneficial accomplishments for our country and her people; and I might say, with no help from the Dems. If we let these negative donothings take over the House, then we will get what we deserve; and it will not be pretty. It will be a disaster.

How can we, as a country, have open borders, free education, free hospitals for all, free income, and survive? Let's face it, we can't.

The program supported by the Democrats is socialism, and it has always failed by all who have tried it. The only answer is to get out and vote for the Republicans and support our president.

SAM WEST

Acampo