Mayor Jerry Sanders has hired BAE Systems to train the city of San Diego’s managers and union officials on the finer points of administering managed competition, the concept of allowing businesses to compete for city jobs that Sanders is proposing in Proposition C.
If voters approve the proposition Tuesday, BAE will begin holding classes Thursday. The four training sessions that the firm will conduct on managed competition will cost the city about $27,000.
The contract is cancelable if Proposition C fails at the ballot box, Sanders spokesman Fred Sainz said.
“We are not presupposing that managed competition is going to pass, but our assumption is that we should have game plan should it pass,” he said.
Although Sanders pledges that the city would not outsource public safety jobs if Proposition C passes, he has invited the firefighter union’s leadership to the training. Sainz said that 12 paramedic positions could possibly be bid out under managed competition. A private business employs a chunk of the city’s paramedics already.
The city’s white- and blue-collar unions, who are most vulnerable under Proposition C, are also invited to the training, Sainz said.
Officials from BAE donated $750 to Sanders during his run for office last year. Sainz said the company was the only group to apply for the job, which was posted in June. The contract’s value falls short of the $250,000 threshold that would trigger the need for the council’s approval.