Although MSD is legally barred from promoting ballot measures, it sees no problem in helping the corporate campaign promoting it. The MSD spokesman says the Laborers International Union will likely be solicited for a donation because its members benefit directly from construction projects. The contractors MSD suggested be solicited by CCW include Insituform Technologies Inc., Affholder Inc., Bates Utility Co. Inc., Karsten Equipment Co., J.S. Alberici Construction Co. and McCarthy Cos. The organization's only campaign-finance report is not due until a week before the election. Passage of the proposed charter change, says Sullivan, would provide a secure source of profits for these companies well into the 21st century.
Bonds are the same way.
Now, the flip side of it, though, is, you do pay interest with it. It's the last issue that raises Sullivan's ire the most. In a nutshell, he asserts that instead of using its in-house engineering department to do the lion's share of the work, the district hires a stable of outside engineering firms without a formal bidding process. The usual bevy of contractors sidles up to the trough, Sullivan says, and he has watched public funds divided up among the same companies year after year, with no accountability. The same services could have been provided more economically by MSD's own engineers, he says.