Opinion ID: 1160921
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether substantial evidence supports the Commission's adoption of the PSA bid specification

Text: The familiar principles constraining our review are easily reiterated: In determining whether the Commission's decision to adopt the PSA bid specification was supported by substantial evidence, we resolve all conflicts in favor of the prevailing party, indulging in all legitimate and reasonable inferences from the record. When a finding is attacked as being unsupported, the power of the appellate court begins and ends with a determination as to whether there is any substantial evidence in the record, contradicted or uncontradicted, that will support the finding. When two or more inferences can be reasonably deduced from those facts, the reviewing court has no power to substitute its deductions for those of the fact finder. ( WSPA, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 571, 38 Cal.Rptr.2d 139, 888 P.2d 1268.) On review of administrative agency findings, extra-record evidence cannot be admitted merely to contradict the evidence on which the agency relied in making a quasi-legislative decision or to raise a question regarding the wisdom of that decision. ( Id. at p. 579, 38 Cal.Rptr.2d 139, 888 P.2d 1268.) We conclude substantial evidence supports the Commission's adoption of the PSA bid specification as in furtherance of legitimate governmental interests. Consistent with the competitive bidding laws, these interests include those of preventing costly delays and assuring contractors access to skilled craft workers. The record reflects that the Commission was concerned about the potential for labor strife during the life of the project. Before voting on the resolution adopting the PSA, the Commission held two public meetings to hear evidence and argument on the desirability of the agreement. [4] As the Court of Appeal observed: Seventy-seven separate construction contracts were interrelated by time and effect. John L. Martin, director of airports, whose declaration was submitted by the Commission in opposition to ABC's petition below, stated that for every month of delay in completion of the master plan, it was estimated that the cost of administering the project would increase by $1.5 million, and the Commission would lose revenue of $13 million. Inflation alone would add an additional $4,635,000 monthly to the cost of the master plan. In addition, there would be increased expenditures needed for the continuation of temporary facilities, and an unquantifiable loss of tourist revenue to San Francisco. Director Martin noted that significant delays in the completion of one contract would likely have a `domino effect' by causing delays in the completion of other, later-in-time contracts. On the other hand, the Commission had before it no evidence that the cost of prosecuting the work contemplated by the master plan would increase as a result of the PSA compliance requirement. The PSA includes provisions designed to prevent strikes, slowdowns and other work stoppages, and to ensure contractors a steady and reliable source of skilled labor for the project. In view of the evidence before the Commission demonstrating the substantial costs associated with preventable delays, we cannot say that the adoption of the PSA requirement was arbitrary, capricious, or lacking in evidentiary support. The Commission could properly find that these provisions serve the goals of the competitive bidding laws, in particular to `secure the best work or supplies at the lowest price practicable ... for the benefit of property holders and taxpayers, and not for the benefit or enrichment of bidders.' ( Domar, supra, 9 Cal.4th at p. 173, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 521, 885 P.2d 934.) ABC argues the Commission could not properly act on such concerns absent evidence of labor unrest on prior projects at the airport or without considering narrower solutions, such as requiring only union contractors to agree to no-strike clauses. ABC does not persuade us the Commission's discretion was so constrained. We rejected an analogous argument in Domar, supra, 9 Cal.4th at page 174, 36 Cal. Rptr.2d 521, 885 P.2d 934, that a minority/women outreach program imposed as a bid requirement had to be shown actually to promote competition or reduce prices. Despite the lack of empirical evidence, we said, it is not unreasonable for the Board to conclude that, in the absence of mandated outreach, prime contractors will tend to seek out familiar subcontractors when bidding for projects, and that therefore their bids may or may not reflect as low a price had reasonable outreach efforts been made. Indeed, Domar is unable to cite to anything in the record that might detract from such a conclusion. Under these circumstances, the Board's action is entitled to deference. ( Ibid. ) Similarly here, the Commission was not required to seek evidence of past labor strife at the airport, or await future labor unrest, before bargaining for a no-strike agreement designed to avoid costly delays in the completion of the project. ABC, moreover, cannot exclude the possibility that nonunion workers might engage in a strike, slowdown or other job action; it merely argues such action by nonunion workers is unlikely. The Commission was not, however, required to rely on the asserted unlikelihood of such action and thus to exempt nonunion workers from the no-strike pledge. ABC asserts that unspecified federal and state labor laws already exist to deal with the possibility of labor unrest. Hence, it urges, adoption of the PSA was unwarranted. [5] As the Trades Council correctly argues, however, labor unrest is not illegal in this country. Only through some form of collective bargaining agreement can the Commission and the employers on the project eliminate workers' right to strike. (See Boys Markets v. Clerks Union (1970) 398 U.S. 235, 247-254, 90 S.Ct. 1583, 26 L.Ed.2d 199 [court may enjoin concerted activities by unionized employees who are covered by a labor contract that contains a mandatory grievance adjustment procedure]; Labor Bd. v. Washington Aluminum Co. (1962) 370 U.S. 9, 14-18, 82 S.Ct. 1099, 8 L.Ed.2d 298 [NLRA protects nonunionized employees who engage in concerted activities, including work stoppages].) The Commission could reasonably conclude the PSA offered the most effective way to ensure labor harmony on the project and thereby avoid the undesirable consequences of work disruption. Having concluded ABC has failed to demonstrate that the PSA in the present case conflicts with competitive bidding laws, we observe that future challenges to the imposition of project labor agreements as bid requirements will be reviewed, on a case-by-case basis, for consistency with the competitive bidding laws under the principles articulated in this opinion. [6]