Some Des Plaines officials want to eliminate a requirement that companies bidding on large city projects have an active apprenticeship and training program registered with the federal government.
The city’s aldermen voted 4-3 at the Sept. 8 meeting to strike the requirement from Des Plaines’ responsible bidder ordinance. The ordinance stipulates that companies bidding on city contracts over $25,000 have approved apprenticeship/training programs registered with the U.S. Department of Labor before being awarded the work.
The council will need to vote in favor of the change once more before the amended ordinance can be finalized.
Fifth Ward Alderman James Brookman said the requirement has cost the city thousands of dollars and may have prevented companies without apprenticeship and training programs from bidding on city projects in the first place.
“There is no proof (the program) gives you superior work; it certainly often gives you a higher price,” he said.
According to a memo written by city staff, non-union companies have submitted the low bid on three city projects in the last three years, but all were rejected because the businesses lacked the training program required under the city’s responsible bidder ordinance. The difference between the amount that was awarded for these three projects and the low bids total just over $80,000, according to the memo.
“Generally speaking, only union contractors participate in apprenticeship training programs,” the memo states.
First Ward Alderman Patricia Haugeberg said the issue is up for debate after the city received bids for a Northwest Highway landscaping project this summer, and the lowest bid came from a non-union company without a training program. That bid, she said, which needed to be thrown out per the city’s responsible bidder ordinance, was the lowest by nearly $40,000. The project is being rebid, according to city documents.
Mayor Matt Bogusz said he opposed the change, saying he wanted “the best labor for my dollar.”
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Second Ward Alderman John Robinson echoed his statement.
“I believe that the proper work can be done by people that are trained to do it, not just people that are giving you a price,” he said. “We’ve seen it in the past where we’ve had stuff done, and it’s not done right.”
The responsible bidder requirement was added to the city code in 2012. Brookman was, at the time, the sole council member to vote against the ordinance.
Bogusz vetoed an attempt by the council to strike the training and apprenticeship requirement from the ordinance in 2013, and six votes in favor of ditching the requirement this time around would be necessary to thwart a mayoral veto.
Brookman, Haugeberg, Ald. Denise Rodd, 3rd, and Ald. Michael Charewicz, 8th, voted in favor of changing the bidding rules, while Robinson, Ald. Dick Sayad, 4th, and Ald. Don Smith, 7th, voted against the proposed amendment.
Sixth Ward Alderman Malcolm Chester was absent from the meeting.