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Happy Trails
On behalf of Elite Racing, Mission Trails Regional Park and the Children's Hospital Center for Child Protection, I would like to thank you for your support of the third annual Qualcomm Cross Country Run/Hike.
Your support was instrumental in making the race a huge success. The event brought almost 2,000 participants together to support a cause that saves lives. The Qualcomm Cross Country has grown to rank among the largest trail running events in the United States.
Jennifer Randall
Elite Racing
Two Views On Outsourcing
Re: the July article on the San Diego County's plan to outsource most of its information technology (IT).
A few more facts are in order. The county's own auditor has determined that the cost of the portion of IT planned to be outsourced is $66 million per year, not the consultant's $100 million per year. The auditor has also determined that the staff cost for this portion is around $20 million a year, not the consultant's $35 million a year.
County IT staff has provided an online Internet site for County residents to find lost pets; adopt pets; pay property taxes; view home sale prices, election results, fictitious business names, property tax sales, grantor/grantee index; etc. Online Internet County government is continuing to grow without the need of outsourcing its own IT staff.
A supervisor's comment that the union is only doing their job (when they oppose the outsourcing) can also be said of some of those who support this huge acquisition of taxpayers' money (up to $1 billion).
The state had the Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group conduct a study of state IT outsourcing. It found that "IT is a core competency of the state" and "the net savings for outsourcing are small." As a result of this study, the state has written an 83-page document on methods for recruiting and retaining its own IT staff. This insourcing plan is available for the county to also use.
Recently, the state of Connecticut has seen the light and has abandoned its three-year plan for IT outsourcing, which was of the same magnitude as the county's. The prime vendors who bid in Connecticut are the same ones making the bids to the county. The proposed vendor cost to Connecticut started at $1 billion, quickly escalated to $1.35 billion, and was on its way up to $1.5 billion. Who knows how much it would have actually cost the residents of Connecticut if it had been implemented?
Proponents of county outsourcing have long held up Connecticut as a shining example of a large successful governmental outsourcing plan, which has now crumbled to dust. San Diego County is now alone in the country in the planning of IT outsourcing of this magnitude. By it being said that the county is leading the way in this huge type of outsourcing, it also means that the county is going where no other large governmental body has gone before and that this will be a $1 billion plus experimental gamble with taxpayers' money!
Andre Beauparlant
County Department of Information Services
Thank you very much for your in-depth report on the county's move to outsource IT services. This seems like a good move in many ways, one which could put San Diego County in the forefront of civic administrations. It is, however, a huge undertaking and one wonders what mechanisms are in place to manage such a massive project, especially in the climate of politics and the absence of many in the chain-of-command culture of private enterprise.
I have two questions: Is there anywhere one can get more information about this project and how it will be implemented? And, will all of the municipalities within the county automatically be included in the implementation, those cities such as Encinitas, Oceanside, Escondido?
I am not well-informed about how county government really works and whether supervisors have governing influence over local civic administrations. It seems in order for this kind of move to have significant payoff where it counts (at the user level, the citizen who needs services as you indicate) there would need to be a degree of compatibility and consistency that I doubt could be achieved in the absence of a strong mandate.
Jay Willette
San Diego
Editor's Note: For IT contract information call the County Department of Media and Public Relations at (619) 595-4633 or click on the Information Technology banner at www.co.san-diego.ca.us. Other cities will not be part of the county's IT outsourcing project.
Condo Defects
Re: Donna Morafcik's "Real Property" column in the July 1999 issue.
Considering that Morafcik is director of communications for the Building Industry Association, it is understandable that any mention of condo building defects litigation would fail to include the possibility that there have been cases where the quality of construction is so careless and inept that owners have no recourse other than legal action.
I was the on-site manager for a condo complex here in San Diego at a time when the association decided to settle out of court in a construction defects case. The problems included:
- Bungled installation of membrane under concrete deck allowing rain and irrigation water to pour into garage.
- Omission or incorrect installation of flashings at doors and windows allowing water damage to interior walls and floors during heavy rainfall.
- Fire-stops left out of interior walls, earthquake tie-downs omitted or poorly installed.
- Holes drilled for planter drains but not used, allowing water into garage (one hole was used for electrical conduits, rusting conduit and electric junction box).
- Roofing badly installed, drains not at low points, leading to water pouring into units.
- Weep screeds at bottom of stucco omitted or covered over with concrete.
- No backflow valves installed in water supply system.
- Stairways and balconies rotted out due to water intrusion.
The full account of the disaster filled a few hundred pages and most of it was not disputed by the developers although they naturally disagreed with many of the suggested methods for solutions.
In the interests of fairness and intellectual honesty, please stop trying to suggest that all construction defect litigation can be attributed to a conspiracy between condo associations and lawyers.
Lyle Davidson
San Diego
Wants Downtown Housing
A few months ago, I was in the market for a home, condo or loft in metro San Diego. What I found were a lot of expensive rental properties and hotels. I came to the conclusion there isn’t enough Downtown living space available, unless you have $300,000 and find the Harbor Club appealing.
If San Diego is ever going to have a vibrant downtown, we have to bring people into the Downtown to live (And I don’t mean more rental properties). I don’t see enough development happening. When the lights do go out, everyone goes home to their Poways and Rancho Bernardos.
The time has come for Downtown development, not just a ballpark and hotels, but living space for city dwellers. Let's stop approving development of new, untouched land in the North County and begin promoting some developments Downtown.
I gave up my search for a Downtown loft, condo or house and settled on Bay Park. Maybe on the next go round, someone will have developed Downtown spaces.
Dean Yancheck
San Diego
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