Disputes Efficiency Claim
Union: HA Wastes Millions Privatizing

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Union officials who represent architects and engineers at the New York City Housing Authority are claiming that the agency could save money and avoid planned layoffs if it stopped contracting out construction management to outside vendors.

CLAUDE FORT: Questions HA's claims.

The union officials say that millions of dollars are wasted on Construction Management firms that would be better spent on in-house staff. HA officials counter that the private companies have increased on-time construction by 20 percent and have helped to control costs.

HA officials announced a budget shortfall of $225 million last month due to Federal and State funding cuts and plan to cut 500 jobs.

'Don't Privatize in Crisis'

"NYCHA should not be privatizing the work," said Local 375 Civil Service Technical Guild President Claude Fort at a June rally against the cuts. "They are hiring consultants that cost millions of dollars more. This is nonsense when we are in such a crisis."

Officers of Local 375, which has 450 members at the HA, assert that costs are 25 to 100 percent higher for CM firms than work that is bid publicly. HA officials claim, however, that the CM firms' estimates take into account the real costs of the projects, and that their expertise results in better-quality work that is finished on time.

MITCHELL FEDER: In-house staff better buy.

"The claims being made are incorrect," said HA spokesman Howard Marder. "CMs are providing estimates that are more in line with increases in labor and material costs. This is a system that's working."

According to HA officials, community center construction projects are 10 months ahead of schedule. "How do you measure the cost of a delayed project?" Mr. Marder asked.

Union: We're Better

But union officials assert that their members are capable of doing quality, timely work and that the problem in the past has been that the firms hired by the city were not up to snuff.

The Construction Management Build project was implemented by the HA to try to improve on-time construction. Instead of simply contracting out to private firms for specific services, the city now hires a CM firm, which manages the overall project and itself contracts out work such as painting, plumbing and other construction-related services. Local 375 members argue that the extra layer of bureaucracy is sucking funds out of the HA.

They also contend that they could oversee and inspect some of the projects themselves, a service provided now by the CM firms. Mitchell Feder, the president of Local 375's HA chapter, noted that the $9.6 million community center at Baychester Houses in The Bronx was designed and managed by in-house staff and was completed on time.

"We believe experienced in-house staff can do as good a job, and our track record proves it," he said.