Tim Patrick, the petition candidate for the Dorchester County Council, recently outlined his ideas for how to change the way the county does business. He stresses choosing “best value contracting,” a policy that would award government projects to the most responsible builder, not just the one with the lowest bid.
“There would be seven factors (used) to see who can provide the total lowest real cost,” Patrick, 24, said to the Charleston Central Labor Council at the organization’s June meeting.
“If (the county) hires a cheap contractor with the lowest bid, (and the company) has poor past examples, we have products that are unsuccessful...I have seen jobs that are done (poorly); it happens all the time.”
He spoke as a guest during the organization’s regular meeting, during the time he was attempting to get more than 700 qualified signatures on a petition in order to run against Republican nominee Jay Byars for the council seat.
Patrick was recently approved by the election commission to be on the ballot after getting more than 800 signatures.
The handful of Labor Council members that attended the meeting seemed to be in favor of Patrick’s idea, and said they would advocate on his behalf to get him on November’s ballot.
“Best value contracting” is a policy advocated by labor unions across the country. Patrick told the group that the idea is a plus for smaller local businesses, which often have higher bids than larger companies.
“A lot of the time, (local companies) are overlooked because they aren’t the lowest (bid). It costs us a bit of money (in the long run). (The idea) would be higher costs upfront, but the real cost should be lower.”
According to a letter to the editor in last week’s Journal Scene, submitted by Dorchester County Administrator Jason Ward, the county’s current policy does encourage local businesses to apply for government contracts.
Ward states that the “lowest responsive and responsible vendor located in Dorchester County, who is within five percent of the lowest bid from a non-Dorchester County vendor, which would be awarded the bid, (may) match the bid.”
Patrick’s idea would not just allow local companies to match bids, but take into consideration the factors that contribute to its higher bid.
This could include hiring companies whose workers make a good living, with reasonable wages as well as benefits.
“Companies (for consideration) would provide (employees) with good training…and hire good working Americans,” Patrick said. “We need to bring the focus back to people who are in our community and actually contribute to our society. We don’t hire (a company just) to do a job; we hire them to do it right.”
To learn more about the work of the Charleston Central Labor Council, visit http://www.charlestonlaborcouncil.org/index.html,
Email Tim Patrick at tpatricksc@gmail.com.