Contractor ordinance criticized

From the BCCT.

Contractor ordinance criticized
By DANNY ADLER

A half-dozen people Tuesday night blasted Morrisville’s proposed responsible-contractor ordinance for all public construction and maintenance contracts worth at least $10,000, claiming the law favors union work.

They also pointed out alleged conflicts of interest: Two councilmen, David Rivella and Edward Albertson, are union men; also, Rivella and the Morrisville Democratic Club received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from unions during the 2007 election.

Rivella denied that the ordinance was an attempt to promote union work, once again stressing that “there’s not one word in the ordinance that says union.” He added, “I really wasn’t thrilled when there was a lot of financial figures read that imply that labor paid me off, if you will, to vote for this. This is not a labor issue.”

Supporters of the ordinance say it’s designed to ensure that the contracts are awarded to responsible, qualified firms. One requirement is that the firms participate in an apprenticeship program.

Rivella said borough laws don’t define what a responsible contractor is. This proposal, expected to come to a vote Monday, would change that, he said.

The eight-page ordinance says contractors must confirm they hadn’t defaulted on any project or been prohibited from bidding on any federal, state or local government contracts in the last three years. They also must confirm they’re free of “willful violations” of federal or state safety laws, among many other things.

“It seems that this would be a very exclusionary ordinance to me, and would exclude established, reputable contractors with small businesses that cannot provide an apprenticeship program,” said resident Marlys Mihok, who sits on the Morrisville school board. “I feel that there’s more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest.”

Jeff Zeh, president of the southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, called it a “discriminatory arrangement.”

“You have many contractors in the area that are not union and don’t participate in apprenticeship programs as defined in your ordinance that have done good work for you,” he said.

Albertson, who was appointed to the council a few months ago, noted that he did not run in the 2007 election when Morrisville Democrats accepted campaign contributions from unions.

“The training that I have received from being in a union shop I believe makes me a safe and educated employee,” Albertson said.