Measure F: Captiol Improvement Projects

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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund

Orange County, CA

November 2, 2004 Election

Measure F
Captiol Improvement Projects
City of Cypress
Majority approval required

8968 / 56.6% Yes votes ...... 6878 / 43.4% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Information shown below: Yes/No Meaning | Impartial Analysis | Arguments |

Shall the City Charter be amended to permit the use of the design-build process in connection with capital improvement projects?

A YES vote of this measure means:: Your YES vote means that you want Section 1012 of the City Charter amended to permit the use of the design-build process in connection with capital improvement projects.
A NO vote of this measure means:: Your NO vote means that you do not want to change the existing language of Section 1012 of the City Charter.

Impartial Analysis from City Attorney

Section 1012 of the City Charter, adopted by the voters in 1975, describes the City's process for awarding public works contracts. A "Yes" vote on this measure by City voters would authorize the option to use design-build contracts for capital improvement projects. A "design-build" procurement process is one in which both the design and construction of a project are obtained from a single entity. Generally, the designer-builder is a licensed general contractor that employs its own architects and engineers, or retains them as sub-consultants, or the design-builder is a joint venture between a design firm and a general contractor. As recently noted by the California Legislature in enacting statutes to sanction the use of design-build contracts by the State of California, the national trend is to utilize design-build contracts. Advantages to utilization of a design-build process may include: elimination of disputes between a project architect and a project contractor, time savings, cost savings, a reduction in the number of change orders and elimination of scheduling problems and similar job site disputes. Disadvantages to the design-build process may include: a design that suffers at the expense of the schedule and cost, a reduction in competition, and the architect or engineer may lose control over what has been considered by some to be traditional checks and balances. The current Charter language requires that all public improvement projects involving an expenditure of three thousand five hundred dollars or more be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which precludes the option of the design-build process. Measure "F" has been placed on the ballot by the City Council to provide the City with the flexibility to use the design-build process for capital projects when the City Council determines that the design-build process is in the City's best interest. Since the City Charter was adopted by voter approval, changes or amendments to the Charter also require voter approval. To accomplish the revision, two revisions to Section 1012 shall be necessary. First, the phrase "Unless subject to an exception set forth in another subparagraph of Section 1012" will need to be added to this Section. Second, a new paragraph will be added at the end of Section 1012 which will provide: "At its election, the Council may authorize the use of a design-build construction procurement process for capital improvement projects." This Measure will not impose any new fees or taxes on any City resident, or property owner.

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Arguments For Measure F

We, members of your City Council, are asking for your support for Measures D through H. These proposed changes to the Cypress City Charter are, in most cases, "cleanup" language to bring our Charter into compliance with modern conventional business practices and current state law. The Charter is the governing document for the City of Cypress and our City Attorney explains in his impartial analysis why these changes to the document are necessary. Since the adoption of our City Charter nearly thirty years ago, operational standards and practices have evolved and these amendments update the Charter to reflect current government procedures and language in place today. For instance, Measures F and G relate to changes in the requirements for our City's construction and maintenance contracts. Current language has the potential to require the City to enter a construction or maintenance contract that will not yield the optimum result. This could result in unnecessary or uneconomic costs. The proposed amendments will provide for the implementation of bestmanagement practices. This will help the City achieve quality construction results, while simultaneously controlling final costs. Measures D, E, and H are essentially "housekeeping" changes that will allow the language of our City Charter to accurately reflect the manner in which the duties of the City Clerk, Treasurer, and the Director of Community Development are presently managed. Your YES votes on these simple amendments will update our City Charter. Most importantly, these changes will not impose any new fees or taxes on our Cypress citizens or businesses. We strongly encourage your YES votes on Measure F.

(No arguments against Measure F were submitted)

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Created: December 15, 2004 13:32 PST
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