Ask a local public works official privately about Proposition 35 and you can almost see his eyes roll heavenward as of beseeching. Albeit a bit more diplomatic than that on the record about their counterpart Caltrans bureaucracy, with rare exception they nonetheless make clear their need for the flexibility Proposition 35 will give them in contracting in the private sector for architectural and engineering services.

That is what lies at the heart of Proposition 35's relatively simple goal: to reverse a state court decision in a protectionist case brought by a Caltrans engineers' union that extended state civil service rules to severely restrict the state's - and local agencies' - ability to use private firms for engineering and related services.

What local officials will tell you is that there are simply too many projects on the books for Caltrans to handle expeditiously, despite a boom in hiring by the agency. They also complain that inexplicably, projects that are approved, funded and designed also take too long to accomplish.

Examples of local projects that could be speeded up are the widening to four lanes of a part of Route 46, installing passing lanes on Highway 65, and improving the interchange at 7th Standard Road and Highway 99.

The complaints by local officials are not new - nor are the spurious objections to this proposition.

That it is a special-interest (private engineering firms) law. Of course it is; the court ruling involved only Caltrans engineers. There is no need for regional park zoo keepers, for example, to become involved.

The public is at risk. For example, in one flyer it says the proposition "Eliminates competitive bidding, cost negotiations and selection of the most qualified firm." The text of the law says, "Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to change project design standards... established by state, regional or local governmental entities."

The idea that local officials would be somehow less economical than their state counterparts ignores a simple political reality: It is a lot easier for taxpayers to monitor local agency spending - and seek corrective action - than it is for anyone to crack the state's bureaucracy.

Opponents' allegation that Proposition 35 is special interest legislation is, however, partly true - they are the special interest benefiting from its defeat. Vote yes on Proposition 35.


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