Fair and Open Competition at Santa Rosa Junior College

Once politicians get a taste of that union political support, they aren’t going to give it up. Proof of this axiom will be seen today (Tuesday, November 12, 2019) at the meeting of the elected board of Santa Rosa Junior College. (This is the public community college district in Sonoma County, California.)

Board members, who represent seven districts in Sonoma County, are scheduled to vote at their November 12 meeting on approving Amendment 1 of the Project Stabilization Agreement (aka Project Labor Agreement) between the Santa Rosa Junior College District and the North Bay Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO and affiliated signatory local unions.

Amendment 1 adds the Lindley Center for STEM project to the projects for which construction companies must sign a Project Labor Agreement with unions as a condition of winning a contract. At their October 8 meeting, the Santa Rosa Junior College elected Board of Trustees voted 5-2 (with the student trustee also voting YES) to direct district staff to “immediately enter into negotiations to amend the existing Project Stabilization Agreement (PSA) to add the Lindley Center for STEM Education project funded by Measure H, and to report back on or before the November Board meeting.”

Voting YES: Dorothy Battenfeld, Jordan Burns, Don Edgar, Maggie Fishman, Mariana Martinez, and Student Trustee Daniel Pablo

Voting NO: Jeff Kunde, Terry Lindley

The vote today is expected to have the same 5-2 result.

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On September 12, 2017, the elected board of Santa Rosa Junior College voted 4-3 to require construction companies to sign a Project Labor Agreement as a condition of working on the Burbank Theater modernization project.

Voting YES: Dorothy Battenfeld, Jordan Burns, Maggie Fishman, Mariana Martinez, and Student Trustee Sabrina Rawson

Voting NO: Don Edgar, Jeff Kunde, Terry Lindley

Notice that board member Don Edgar opposed the Project Labor Agreement in 2017 but now supports it in 2019. California is changing. California elected officials who once defended fair and open bid competition are now under great pressure to change their principles and support government coercion on economic and personal choices.

Santa Rosa Junior College has seven board members elected by Sonoma County voters in seven districts, plus there is a student representative with limited authority. Here are their names, district locations, contact information, and how they voted.

Board Member	District Location	Email Address	Phone Number	Vote
Dorothy Battenfeld	Santa Rosa	dbattenfeld@santarosa.edu	(707) 636-4612	Against Taxpayers
Jordan Burns	West County	jburns@santarosa.edu	(707) 861-1124	Against Taxpayers
Don Edgar	Santa Rosa	dedgar@santarosa.edu	(707) 545-3200	For Taxpayers
Maggie Fishman	South County	mfishman@santarosa.edu	(707) 792-2362	Against Taxpayers
Jeff Kunde	East County	jeff@kunde.com	(707) 282-1511	For Taxpayers
W. Terry Lindley	North County	lindleycattle@gmail.com	(707) 433-9748	For Taxpayers
Mariana Martinez	Santa Rosa	mmartinez@santarosa.edu	(707) 217-9702	Against Taxpayers

The four board members who voted YES want to give unions a monopoly on Santa Rosa Junior College construction projects: Dorothy Battenfeld, Jordan Burns, Maggie Fishman, and Mariana Martinez. (The Student Trustee Sabrina Rawson also voted YES.)

The three board members who voted NO want to maintain the long-standing policy of fair and open bid competition to ensure the best work at the best price for taxpayers: Don Edgar, Jeff Kunde, and W. Terry Lindley.

Let’s look at it again:

SOURCES

Voting Record: http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/santarosa/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=AMVNHU601191

Board Members: https://trustees.santarosa.edu/board