Common-sense spending

I read contracts and budgets for a living. That is not a campaign line, it is my job description.

I am the CTO of a large Orange County law firm. On any given week I am reading a vendor contract, pushing back on a renewal quote, or asking someone to explain why a number moved. It is unglamorous work and it is exactly what a city council is supposed to do with public money.

Take the Antonio Parkway gateway project. The engineer estimated it at $2.1 million. The first time it went out to bid, three contractors responded and two were disqualified on paperwork, leaving a single responsive bid at $3.8 million, seventy-nine percent over. The council rejected it. On the rebid, four contractors responded. The council awarded $2,767,430 and the finished project came in at $2,835,878 all in, about $736,000 over the engineer’s estimate. The monument was dedicated in June.

I am not against the city having nice things. I am against an estimating and procurement process where a third over is treated as a normal Tuesday. When a number misses by that much, somebody should have to explain why, in public, in plain language.

What I will do

Ask, on the record, why any project comes in materially over its engineer’s estimate.
Publish the reasoning behind spending decisions in language a resident can read.
Judge every line by whether a resident would notice if it disappeared.