In 2002 Oregon University System lobbied to be exempted from ORS279 Public Contracting Rules so that they did not have to deal with competitors on Sole Bid or NO-BID contracts. Although the bidding process takes 14 days according to Robert Gray Partners, Inc., Todd Construction and Skyward Construction, commercial and public project builders, OUS prefers to exercise their option to spend public funds on NO-BID contracts and Short List Contractors which is a select handful of recipients of Oregon’s highest paid construction projects.

OUS encompasses several universities including Oregon State University, University of Oregon, Eastern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology, Southern Oregon University, and Western Oregon University.

After Oregon Health & Science University separated from OUS in 1995, “In July 2002, the university presidents sent a letter to a planning committee of the State Board of Higher Education explaining that, in the absence of adequate public support, institutions needed more leeway to respond to the demands of the marketplace and were therefore seeking greater autonomy from the OUS.”

OUS response was Senate Bill 437 which “allowed OUS to buy and sell property, technology, or intellectual property; exempted OUS from competitive contracting procedures; exempted OUS from state information technology rules; shortened timelines for new programs to be approved and relaxed criteria that would have prevented the OUS from offering them; and allowed interest earned in donation accounts established for Article XI-G bond-funded capital projects to be credited to the accounts.”
– Legislative Committee Brief 2004

The only way to increase the middle and higher income earners is to make all people educationally equal through education which naturally grants them higher pay and more opportunities.

Portioning out tax payer funded projects and redistibuting wealth has never been a good idea. It is reverse discrimination. It sends a strong message to “everyone else” do not apply.

FAIR is when a contract awarding entity examines a price (bid) for accuracy and whether the contractor has provided proof that they are capable and insured to perform the scope of work.

Currently contract awarding entities only care whether the General Contractors name is Walsh, Hoffman, Skanska, Andersen, LGC Pence, Howard S. Wright. Why are these contractors given NO-BID contracts in the amount of millions every year?

85-90% of the Public Construction Contracts handed out in the past 24 months have been NO-BID. Let’s talk about what really matters to the tax payers. Let’s talk about how much added debt real estate owners pay to pay for the exhorbitant higher costs of those NO-BID contracts.