CARLSBAD: Voters to decide Tuesday whether to give city 'charter status'

By BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Saturday, May 31, 2008 5:07 PM PDT ∞

Carlsbad High School assistant swim coach Mike Cavanaugh watches his team work out on Feb. 26 at the Monroe Street Pool in Carlsbad. Adding a second swim complex is one of a number of municipal construction projects city officials have planned in the next few years. A charter city measure on Tuesday's ballot could, if approved, reduce the cost of public projects in Carlsbad. (File photo by Bill Wechter - staff photographer)

CARLSBAD ---- A ballot measure to give charter status to Carlsbad, which voters will consider Tuesday, has the firm backing of the city's business organization and a taxpayer group that fights government waste, but is unpopular with workers in the building trades because it might allow the city to pay less for public projects than the state dictates.

The ballot measure, Proposition D, needs a simple majority to pass.

"The city charter is one of those right things to do," said Ted Owen, president and chief executive officer of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, which is helping fund the Yes on D campaign.

That's not the way the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council sees the situation. The trades council has taken a position against Prop. D, saying it might allow Carlsbad to avoid state wage requirements on municipal construction projects.

Some charter cities have used their charters to get around the wage requirements, but other charter communities, including Del Mar, haven't gone that route.

Carlsbad's leaders haven't committed to which way they'll go on the union wage issue.

Carlsbad now is a "general law" city, meaning that it is bound by state law regarding everything from when it schedules elections to whether it must pay state-determined prevailing wages ---- essentially union-scale wages ---- on its municipal construction projects.

If voters approve the proposed city charter, Carlsbad could exempt itself from some, but not all, state requirements. A charter city can't refuse to follow state public meeting laws or traffic regulations, but it can set its own election standards and create its own process for handling construction contracts.

Tom Lemmon, business manager for the trades council, said his organization is opposing Prop. D because Carlsbad's leaders haven't declared in their three-page proposed charter document what they will do about the union wage issue.

City officials say they haven't put that in the charter because they want to keep their options open.

Councilman Mark Packard, who has been a strong proponent of the charter proposal, has said that Carlsbad could save anywhere from 10 to 20 percent on its municipal construction projects by changing its bid-handling process.

The city has estimated that it has some $500 million worth of jobs in the pipeline between now and "build out" ---- the point when the city's developable land is covered, he has said.

He figures that making changes to the bid process could save the city at least $50 million.

Owen, the chamber of commerce leader, said he is supportive of the measure because he thinks it will give Carlsbad greater control over municipal affairs. Among other things, Carlsbad could decide to manage its sales tax revenue instead of waiting for the state to process the money and distribute it to the city, he said.

The charter gives the city's elected leaders more power ---- they wouldn't be as beholden to the state Legislature because they could exempt themselves from some things that the state approves that they don't agree with, Owen said.

However, some people in town don't think that's a good thing.

Carlsbad resident John Philip Bowen said Thursday that he thinks that the city's leaders need more oversight, not less.

"I just believe there's too much fraternizing between the business community and the City Council," he said.

In particular, he said he disagrees with some spending decisions by the City Council, he said. He opposed the council's vote to give two $25,000 donations aid organizations after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Bowen spoke against those contributions to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army back in 2005. At a council meeting, he argued that Carlsbad's money should stay locally instead of going to the Southeastern U.S. to help flood victims. He also said the city should not give money to religious groups such as the Salvation Army.

His push to have the council reverse its donation decision failed, and he thinks that's because city leaders don't feel as if they have to be responsive to citizen complaints.

"The politicians feel that they can do whatever they want without consulting the citizens of Carlsbad," he said.