On Monday, October 20 PHCC of California attended a private luncheon with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. The purpose of the event was to introduce the merit shop to the mayor and explain to him that we are important stakeholders in the region and deserve to have a seat at the table along with our union competitors.
15 contractors and contractor associations including PHCC of California were represented at the lunch and it was an intimate and informal setting in which the mayor was able to speak freely as were those in attendance.
Officially the event was to raise $20,000 for measure L the strong mayor initiative. And while we succeeded in hitting that goal the event also served to let the mayor know that we are legitimate players in the contracting world as well.
The discussion was frank, open and served its purpose. Not only did we hit our fundraising goal but the mayor promised to convene a merit shop sounding group to discuss issues of import to the contracting community.
We look forward to working with him and seeing to it that in the future all taxpayer funded projects are able to be built with fair and open competition.