Billjames.Org: James Chairs City of Charlotte Privatization

Observer Privatization articles 1994 to 1996

(Observer Articles in date order are below)

December 1, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: ONE-3
Page: 8C

PRIVATIZATION PANEL TO GET NEW CHAIRMAN, MCCRORY SAYS
DAN CHAPMAN, Staff Writer

Mayor-elect Pat McCrory said Thursday that Bill James, who leads Charlotte's efforts to reduce the size of government, will be relieved of that job next March.

McCrory said he ``didn't fire'' James, but the outspoken chairman of the Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee doesn't quite agree.

``I'm not sure what to call it,'' said James, a certified public accountant.

McCrory and other Charlotte City Council members have grown increasingly frustrated with James and his committee for suggesting the committee consider selling Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and the Charlotte Coliseum.

Council member Charlie Baker, in particular, singled James out for using his committee chairmanship for political purposes. James was defeated Nov. 7 for an at-large City Council seat.

``There was a breakdown in communication between the council and the privatization committee,'' McCrory said. ``It could've been better handled and we're going to learn from that.''

McCrory wants the chairmanship of the nine-member committee, as well as other council-appointed committees, to rotate yearly. March 31 is when the next round of privatization committee appointments will be made. James said he'll agree to remain on the the committee if he's reappointed.

``I will not subject myself to the circus called the City Council,'' James said. ``The bizarre part is, even if I do rotate off the chairmanship, I'll still speak my mind. And the airport is still on the list. They may want to kill the messenger, but it doesn't kill the message.''

November 14, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 1C

COUNCIL'S EFFORT TO PRIVATIZE STAYS ALIVE
DAN CHAPMAN, Staff Writer

Charlotte's push to privatize survives . . . for now.

The Charlotte City Council turned back on Monday an attempt to abolish the Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee, a citizens' group that advises the council on ways to save taxpayer money.

But the new, Democratic-majority council, which takes over in early December, could revisit the politically sensitive issue.

Charlie Baker, the Republican council member who introduced a measure Oct. 23 to consider shutting the committee down, needed six votes Monday. He got five. Lynn Wheeler, Mike Jackson, Don Reid and Sara Spencer voted to keep the privatization committee alive. (Pat McCrory and Stan Campbell were absent.)

Although Baker didn't prevail, he says the committee got the message that it should butt out of political matters. The mayor agreed.

``They work for the council. They have no business getting out in front of the city council,'' said Richard Vinroot, who nonetheless supports the committee's efforts.

Baker and other members grew increasingly frustrated with the committee for its alleged political activities of late. Baker said Bill James, the committee's chairman who was running for an at-large council seat, used the committee to make political statements. James lost.

Committee members, appointed by the council, pushed privatization of a quarter of the city's garbage pickup, as well as sought the sale of the old convention center and the Charlotte Coliseum. Baker became fed up when James suggested recently his panel consider the sale of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

Baker wanted to disband the committee, which is composed of nonelected accountants, lawyers, real estate agents and others, and replace it with another made up of council members. But Reid said council members couldn't match the private panel's expertise.

Baker said the new city council probably won't reconsider abolishing the panel ``unless the privatization committee acts in some irresponsible manner.''

November 1, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 1C

IS PRIVATIZATION JUST PLAIN POLITICS?
DAN CHAPMAN, Staff Writer

Discussions over selling city-owned property can be as exciting as, well, this year's city council races.

But privatization and politics have proven to be an incendiary mix as the campaigns head into the home stretch. Council member Charlie Baker reiterated Tuesday his desire to abolish the quasi-official Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee.

It just so happens that the committee is headed by Bill James - who's seeking an at-large seat on the city council.

``Politics is at the heart of this,'' said James, running against seven other candidates for the four at-large slots. Some council members ``don't necessarily want to see me get elected.''

Baker denies he has it in for James. Baker also denies politics has anything to do with his efforts to do away with the committee and form another under the council's direct oversight. But he suggests committee members, James included, ``are playing politics'' with the privatization issue.

``It might be a mechanism for getting publicity,'' Baker added.

Chartered in November 1993, the privatization committee's task is to consider ways to save Charlotte taxpayers money. The committee is composed of nonelected officials with expertise in finance, real estate and other business matters. James is a certified public accountant.

Everything but public safety is fair game for the committee. It convinced the council to privatize one-fourth of the city's garbage collection. Baker voted against the motion, saying ``privatizing 25 percent of garbage collection is not a serious matter.''

The committee also has pushed the sale of the old convention center and the Charlotte Coliseum. That's where Baker first got peeved. The council voted twice this past year to stay out of the negotiations between the coliseum authority and the Hornets NBA basketball organization, the arena's main tenant.

``I wouldn't mind seeing the Hornets buy the Coliseum . . . but the timing was atrocious,'' Baker said. ``The council voted maybe three times to tell the privatization committee to quit talking about discussing selling the Coliseum. I don't know if the privatization committee paid any attention.''

Twice, actually, the committee and some council members tried unsuccessfully to get an independent appraisal of the arena. When James suggested last month his committee consider the possible sale of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport - while possible merger talks between USAir and United and American airlines were ongoing - Baker had had enough.

In a surprise move, Baker introduced a motion Oct. 23 to consider disbanding the privatization committee and replacing it with another committee under the council's purview. Council members voted 6-5 to consider Baker's motion. They'll discuss it Nov. 13 - six days after the election.

``My interest in making this a council committee doesn't dull my enthusiasm for privatization at all,'' said Baker, who faces no competition in the general election. ``I'm for sensible privatization and not ideological privatization.''

Responded James: ``Charlie Baker is upset by the fact that we are looking at areas he considers sacrosanct . . . Charlie Baker is a nice guy, but he's never exactly been a proponent of privatization no matter what his campaign literature says.''

James added that Mayor Richard Vinroot will veto the measure because he's ``running for governor on a privatization plank.'' Vinroot said he's likely to veto it, but not for political reasons.

``I created the committee,'' the mayor said. ``Putting the privatization committee into a city council committee would politicize the issue even further.''

October 13, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 1C
Memo: The following story appeared in editions 1-3 without photos on page 3C.

CAMPAIGN TALK OF AIRPORT SALE CRITICIZED (APPEARED IN EDITIONS 1-3 ONLY)
JIM MORRILL, Staff Writer

A suggestion by two city council candidates to consider selling Charlotte's airport has raised a storm of protests from their rivals.

Republican Bill James, an at-large candidate who heads the city's privatization task force, suggested this week that selling Charlotte/Douglas International Airport might be a good idea.

``If we could sell ours, we could generate at least $200 million,'' he told WBTV News on Wednesday. ``Invested properly, that could generate $15 to $20 million in annual income.''

Incumbent Republican Don Reid agreed that the city should consider a sale. But he stopped short of endorsing it.

``Any operation the city is involved in . . . other than public safety, could be and should be looked at either to sell or privatize the management of,'' he said. ``I'm not advocating selling it because that would involve a lot of things. Can you find a buyer? Can you find the right price?''

But the mere suggestion drew protests.

``It's irresponsible to even suggest the sale of (the) airport,'' said Republican council member Lynn Wheeler. ``It's our chief economic development generator and key to the relocation of businesses to this city.''

Democratic council member Ella Scarborough also called it irresponsible. So did Republican candidate Quincy Collins.

James and Reid, he said, ``don't know the facts, obviously, as to how the airport operates.''

Collins, Scarborough, Wheeler, Reid and James are among eight candidates running for four at-large seats.

Mayor Richard Vinroot, a Republican, said because the airport is run so efficiently, selling it or privatizing its management ``shouldn't be on the table.''

Aside from figuring out a market price, selling the airport would be complicated by the extensive federal investment. The federal government pays about 75 percent of the cost of land acquisition, runway and taxiway construction and other development costs.

``There's two issues,'' said Deputy Aviation Director George Robinette.

``Selling airports is a mountain to be climbed because of the federal government's majority investment. . . . The other issue is privatization (of management) . . . Any government operation that's not run efficiently should be privatized. But that's not the case in Charlotte.''

The airport's operating cost of about $2.21 per passenger is the lowest in the country, translating to low landing fees and airport rents.

This month a private company took over management of the Indianapolis airport, where costs were $7.78 per passenger in 1994. The company pledged to save the airport authority $25.6 million over 10 years.

James said all he wants to do is explore private options, as the city council asked him and his group to do.

``I'm in favor of considering privatizing the operations of the airport if it will promote efficiency, improve services and save money,'' he said. ``I am less inclined to support an outright sale. . . . I want to make sure we don't lose control of the economic destiny of the airport.''

To Collins, the whole issue of privatizing has run amok.

``For us to be jumping up and down and making privatization the most important issue in the campaign is ridiculous,'' he said.

June 6, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 1C

COLLECTION PROPOSALS REVIEWED
DAN CHAPMAN, Staff Writer

A topic of discussion at Monday night's Charlotte City Council workshop:

``Solid waste services cost elimination plan.''

The presentation by accountants and policy wonks was as riveting as the subject. Behind the scenes, however, a very interesting and critical debate over Charlotte's privatization efforts raged.

Ever since council members voted last January to let companies bid on one-fourth of Charlotte's garbage pickup routes, charges and countercharges over who's really committed to privatization and competition have flown like flies to, um, garbage.

Monday was no different as city officials detailed their ``benchmark'' cost of $2.53 million to pick up the garbage, recyclables and yard waste of 33,000 south Charlotte households. BFI of South Atlantic Inc. had earlier said it could do the job for $2.45 million per year over a minimum of five years.

The city's Solid Waste Department can't bid, but privatization supporters accused city staff of trying to win back the contract.

``Their unstated goal is to try and convince the council that - quote - Gee guys, we came so close. We only missed it by $80,000 a year. Why don't you go ahead and let us keep the work?' `` Bill James, chairman of the Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee, said over the phone from Orlando, Fla.

David Cooke, the city's director of business support, said the detailed benchmark he offered was to show the solid waste department's competitive spirit.

Council members are expected to award the contract June 26. James and other privatization committee members, including Kip Kiser who attended Monday's meeting, say the city should speed up privatizing the rest of the city.

Mayor Richard Vinroot told Kiser to slow down.

``We are on the front end of competition. We've seen only one bid for one part of the city,'' he said. ``We have to take this one big step at a time. Not four big steps at a time.''

Some council members and others wondered if BFI bid low to win the job and will seek to rework the contract in a few years.

``I'm real concerned because it's pretty low,'' council member Ella Scarborough said in an interview. ``My concern is that they'll be back.''

Linda Ashendorf, who's in charge of government services for BFI in the Charlotte region, disagreed.

``We would never do that,'' she said. ``When we bid, we stand behind it.''

March 6, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 1C
Memo: Shorter version ran in editions 1-3, page 4c.

CITY LOOKS AT SELLING OLD CONVENTION CENTER
DAN CHAPMAN, Staff Writer

The Charlotte City Council could put a For Sale sign on the old convention center, a move supporters of privatization say would show the council's commitment to selling public property.

During a workshop today, they'll get a report recommending the 22-year-old building at College and Trade streets be sold to make way for a skyscraper.

``It would send a serious signal to the community that we are indeed practicing what we preach and that we are not only serious about privatizing services, but privatizing assets as well,'' council member Lynn Wheeler said Sunday.

A Charlotte appraiser estimates the building could be sold for $10.8 million and, within five years, a new building on the 3-acre site would generate $1.5 million in city and county taxes.

But to some selling would be short-sighted.

``That property can generate (revenues) that far exceed the short-term sales price,'' said Mike Schneiderman, president of the Charlotte Uptown Development Corp. ``The economic impact is equally as important as immediate profit gained from the sale.''

Schneiderman and others would like the building converted into an aquarium. Other possibilities include using the site for an entertainment/retail complex or as a sound stage for movie production.

Charlotte is recognized nationwide as a privatization leader. Some city services, such as sidewalk construction and security at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, have been turned over to private companies. Last month, the city voted to privatize a quarter of garbage collection.

In 1994, Charlotte contracted out $151 million worth of city services; that amount may reach $200 million this year.

It's been a different story, though, with the sale of city-owned land and buildings. Despite a vow to consider every piece of property for sale - including the Charlotte Coliseum - nothing's been sold.

Privatization proponents, like Bill James, say the sale of the old convention center would help close future budget deficits.

``This is the first major asset that has gone through the privatization process,'' said James, chairman of the Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee. ``The committee is not opposed to an aquarium or an interim facility. We just do not believe those are financially viable options.''

James' committee received a report last month from a real estate appraiser who concluded that the old convention center should be demolished and replaced with an office-hotel complex.

``I'm inclined to sell it,'' said council member Pat McCrory. ``It's an asset we're no longer using. It's best to return it to the private sector to start getting the revenue from a very valuable piece of property.''

Wheeler will recommend the bidding process remain open six months, maybe a year. If no suitable buyers or renters step forth during that time ``then I absolutely would support donating it to Discovery Place for an aquarium,'' she said.

The CUDC expects its $25,000 aquarium feasibility study to be finished this month.

There's also been talk of transforming the convention center into an entertainment complex. But that appears less likely. Duke Power Co. and an Atlanta developer reportedly are close to a deal that could bring an entertainment complex with 25 movie screens to Duke-owned land near the football stadium.

And Paramount Parks chairman Nelson Schwab III recently wrote Mayor Richard Vinroot saying a major Hollywood production company is considering the convention center as a sound stage for movie production. Schwab says John Landis, who directed the ``Beverly Hills Cop'' films ``is serious about coming here.''

Said McCrory, ``If he wants to bid for the property, he's welcome.''

Time to sell the old convention center?

Estimated value of property: $10.85 million

Interest earnings on sale: $705,250

Property taxes on center's estimated value: $174,500

City's share: $60,600

County's share: $113,900

Total annual revenue: $879,750

SOURCE: T.B. Harris Jr. and Associates

January 16, 1995
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 1C

COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESS PRIVATIZATION
DAN CHAPMAN, Staff Writer

Some Charlotte council members, upset with the slow pace of privatizing government services, could vote Tuesday to turn over one-fourth of the city's garbage pickup to private haulers.

``The city staff has been dragging their feet long enough,'' council member Lynn Wheeler said last week. ``It's high time we go ahead and privatize a quadrant of the city and . . . stop wasting time.''

The council is expected to discuss the matter at dinner. A motion demanding private bids be sought - and excluding the city from seeking the job - is expected during its business meeting.

Much of the venom is directed at city manager Wendell White. Some council members accuse White of protecting the jobs of city employees at the expense of a council-directed plan to privatize garbage pickup.

During the dinner meeting, White will brief council members on his plan to privatize services.

``I'm doing exactly what I was asked to do,'' White said Friday. ``It takes a while to get an organization geared up to do something different. I have no apologies to make. The organization has been extremely responsive.''

Privatizing garbage pickup is another step along the city's path to saving money by contracting out services typically performed by city employees. A 1993 study says the city could save as much as $16 million a year by putting some city services up for bid. Charlotte's 1994 budget was $212 million.

The city already contracts out $150 million worth of garbage, engineering and janitorial work.

White has repeatedly clashed with the Privatization/Competition Advisory Committee, a task force appointed by Mayor Richard Vinroot to help the process along. Last May, White accused the group of trying to usurp his power.

Last Thursday, the task force suggested the council move expeditiously to privatize.

``Why don't we just flat out privatize the first 25 percent of the city to establish a benchmark to evaluate the city's performance for the (remaining) 75 percent?'' asked task force chairman Bill James. ``It's hard to learn to compete when you've never had to do it.''

Under the plan, a private company would pick up trash at 34,000 homes in one as-yet-to-be-determined section of the city. The contract, which could be let by July 1, would last at least five years.

Private haulers have told James' committee that running trash trucks five days a week would cost less than the city's four-day-a-week schedule. But Charlotteans, many already incensed by roll-out service, would see their pickup day change yet again.

``We will be able to draw a plan that will save taxpayers the most money, not necessarily a plan that is designed to be the least disruptive,'' James said.

September 27, 1994
Section: METRO
Edition: FOUR
Page: 2C

PANEL PROPOSES COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON LARGE PROJECTS
ERIC FRAZIER, Staff Writer

City employees could soon be fighting to keep an estimated 1,900 public jobs - and they might be doing so ``with one hand tied behind their back.''

That's what some said Monday as city leaders met to try to iron out kinks in a plan to make public workers and private firms compete for city contracts.

City Manager Wendell White said city workers' competitiveness is crippled by state laws prohibiting public agencies from bidding on construction, repair or purchasing contracts of more than $75,000.

His staff asked the city council's public services committee to seek new laws lifting the limits on public agencies' bidding ability.

``We don't feel like we now have the tools to compete,'' White said.

Some staffers suggested the bid ceiling for governments should be around $300,000 - and several council members agreed.

``In order for it to be fair play, we need (the city) to be part of the bidding process,'' said council member Ella Scarborough. ``Otherwise, you need to just say let's privatize everything.''

Nasif Majeed added that anything less would be like asking the city ``to tie one hand behind its back and be competitive.''

But others disputed that.

Council members Mike Jackson and Charles Baker said public agencies shouldn't be encouraged to bid on large construction contracts because they weren't intended to be ``little construction empires.''

They said they want to increase interest in the smaller contracts city departments typically handle themselves without competitive bidding.

``If (the contract) is bigger, it should be for private bidding, period,'' Jackson said.

Former city council member Dan Clodfelter said that could lead to ``artificial games'' in which city administrators begin breaking up public work into smaller contracts so city workers can bid.

Clodfelter is a member of an advisory panel city council members appointed to help them make good on a 1993 study that said the city could save as much as $16 million by putting public services up for bid.

The study also said about 1,900 city jobs could be affected.

The council members on Monday referred the bidding concerns and other issues to the advisory panel for further study.

``We want a level playing field,'' said Bill James, chairman of the panel. ``We want to be able to say it's fair for both the city and private companies.''

September 25, 1994
Section: METRO
Edition: ONE - FOUR
Page: 1B
Memo: This article ran on page 8B in editions 1 & 3.

PRIVATIZING CITY WORK GOING SLOW
ERIC FRAZIER, Staff Writer

Bureaucrats and businesses have been warring over how the City of Charlotte should work.

Businesses say private firms can save taxpayers money by providing city services, such as garbage pickup, at cheaper rates.

City employees say they can do the job just as efficiently - and with more attention to customer service.

Many Charlotte City Council members wanted businesses and the city staff competing for work by now. But they say the fighting between city staffers and a business-oriented advisory group has kept it stuck in neutral.

Some blame City Manager Wendell White, saying he is stalling the process to protect his staff.

``The privatization effort has been moving at a snail's pace,'' council member Don Reid said. ``I really feel the city manager has not put forth his best effort yet. . . . That's been the real stumbling block.''

White says he's only doing his job - making sure city services are delivered efficiently and that city staffers receive fair treatment.

``It's not going too slow,'' he said. ``I've assigned some of my most talented people'' to work on the issue.

Much of the debate has centered on the nine-member advisory group the council convened in March.

The group of business leaders is to help the council make good on a 1993 study that said the city could save as much as $16 million a year by putting some city services up for bid. The city's budget is $212 million this year.

The council wanted the group to serve as an impartial watchdog agency - a panel of business experts who could