Daggett Nominated For '06-'07 Chairman; Germany, Psomas, Stump '05-'07 Vice Chairmen

Jeff Daggett, Washington Woody Germany, Montana Tim Psomas, California Jerry Stump, Tennessee

Jeff Daggett, ACEC's longest serving treasurer (2001 to 2004) and senior vice president of W&H Pacific of Bothell, Washington has been nominated for ACEC Chairman for 2006-2007. Nominated for 2005-07 Vice Chairmen are: Woody G. Germany, President of WGM Group, Inc. (Montana); Timothy Psomas, Chairman of the Board of PSOMAS (California); and Gerald Stump, Senior Associate of Wilbur Smith Associates (Tennessee).

Nominating Committee Chairman Dan DeYoung: "We had exceptionally qualified candidates."   The Nominating Committee, chaired by former ACEC Chairman Dan DeYoung, conducted interviews with candidates prior to the Fall Conference in Portland. "We had exceptionally qualified candidates, covering a cross-section of ACEC membership, and who showed foresight and dedication to the Council's activities," said DeYoung. Ballots will be sent to national directors for voting by January 12, followed by an official announcement January 14.

Minuteman Fund Helps ACEC/Colorado Win Landmark State Supreme Court Case ACEC/CO Executive Director Sandy Donnel ACEC/Colorado has won a landmark victory in the state's Supreme Court in a decision overturning a Court of Appeals ruling that had allowed a subcontractor to sue two design firms for "economic loss," even though there was no contract between the parties. "Economic loss" refers to things such as delay costs, lost productivity, and lost profits, as opposed to damages for property damage or personal injury. In BRW, Inc., v. Dufficy & Sons, Inc., ACEC/Colorado, with assistance from ACEC's Minuteman Fund, participated in an amicus brief on behalf of the defendant engineering firms. In reversing the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court reasoned that subcontractors have the same opportunity to allocate risks of financial loss by contract as do other parties in a construction project. Therefore, just because a contractor may rely on an architect/engineer's plans, specifications, or construction-phase inspections or observations, that does not mean the contractor can sue the architect/engineer for delay, lost productivity, or other similar claims. "This is an important win for Colorado engineering firms, and we are very appreciative of the Minuteman Fund assistance that helped us to achieve victory," said Sandy Donnel, executive director of ACEC/Colorado. The Minuteman Fund is ACEC's primary means for helping State Organizations fight state judicial and legislative battles of national significance. Click here for more information on the Minuteman Fund.

Minuteman Grants Awarded To GA, CA To Promote Legislative/Judicial Initiatives The ACEC Executive Committee has awarded Minuteman Fund grants to ACEC's Georgia and California state organizations. ACEC/Georgia received a grant to support a legislative initiative that would require state agencies and local governments in Georgia to use QBS. CELSOC was given a grant to defend against court challenges by public employee unions to California's Proposition 35, the state's constitutional amendment permitting the state to contract out engineering work to the private sector. Earlier ACEC had supported CELSOC's successful effort to pass Proposition 35.

Board Of Directors Briefed In Portland On Offshoring, Expectations Of Perfection Jack Beemer The ACEC Board of Directors received briefings on the emerging issues of "unrealistic client expectations" and "offshoring" (the exporting of design work overseas) at the Council's Fall Conference in Portland, Maine. Former Risk Management Committee Chairman Jack Beemer addressed problems and possible solutions regarding client expectations of "perfection." This issue, also known as a "standard of care" problem, involves unrealistic client expectations that lead to cost-recovery efforts against design professionals for work that does not meet a perfection standard. The Risk Management Committee has formed a subcommittee to consider what can be done to solve or mitigate the problem. "The consequences of unrealistic expectations include spending countless hours of unbillable time arguing over what needs to be fixed, dealing with attempts to recover costs to fix any 'deficiency,' and being in an adversarial relationship with clients," Beemer told the Board members. "Unrealistic expectations may also lead the client to view the design professional as a commodity rather than a provider of professional services." Negotiating better contracts; educating clients during negotiations to develop reasonable expectations; and advocating legislative or regulatory reforms to combat "perfection" standards in public contracts are possible solutions, said Beemer. Procurement Advocacy Committee Chairman Tim Psomas briefed the Board on offshoring, a hotly-debated issue largely driven by election year politics. While citing the need to educate ACEC members on professional practice issues associated with offshoring such as maintaining quality control and the protection of sensitive documents, Psomas stressed that engaging in the practice is a decision that all ACEC member companies must decide for themselves. ACEC's Procurement Advocacy Committee recommended a Council position that focuses both on increased education and strong opposition of Federal laws that aim to restrict offshoring.

Jobs Act Boosts Transportation, Brownfields Funding In addition to a new tax cut for engineering firms, the American Jobs Creation Act (H.R. 4520) includes important provisions that will boost funding for environment and transportation. The measure contains ACEC-advocated tax changes for ethanol-based fuels that will provide an additional $19 billion in revenues to the Highway Trust Fund. The bill brings the tax rate for ethanol-based fuels equal to that of regular gasoline, and includes measures to prevent fuel tax fraud. Both provisions will provide an additional $3 to $4 billion per year in new highway and transit funding. The provisions take effect December 31, which ensures that new Highway Trust Fund dollars will be locked in place as the budget and TEA-21 reauthorization debates begin next year. The Jobs Act also authorizes the issuance of $2 billion in tax-exempt facility bonds for green building and sustainable design projects over the next five years. A second provision allows tax-exempt entities to invest in projects located in so-called "brownfields" (and other green building and sustainable design projects) without being subject to tax penalties for "unrelated business" income, a needed change in tax policy that will encourage more capital investment into construction projects on brownfields sites.

ACEC Preserves Contracting Out Provision In Final F.Y. '05 Defense Authorization Bill An ACEC-led coalition won a crucial victory in the closing days of the Congressional session that preserves the ability of the Department of Defense to contract out work to engineering firms engaged in the task of rebuilding Iraq. Several member firms were a direct target of an amendment to the Senate version of the F.Y. '05 Defense Authorization bill that aimed to replace those firms with government agencies. The amendment sponsors, Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), claimed the engineering and management services currently being performed by A/E firms are "inherently governmental" and not appropriate for the private sector. House and Senate negotiators significantly modified the original Wyden/Dorgan text during conference, removing all references to Iraqi reconstruction contracts and replacing onerous provisions with existing Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) requirements. Had the Wyden-Dorgan amendment become law, it would have impacted firms providing services in Iraq, and may have had a broader impact for all firms doing business with the Department of Defense. House and Senate negotiators on the Defense bill also agreed to significantly modify a House-passed amendment that sought to curtail DoD's ability to open new contracting opportunities to the private sector. The amendment, offered by Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), included an "in-sourcing" provision which directed DoD to allow federal employees to compete for work currently performed by private contractors. The in-sourcing language was removed from the final bill though conferees retained the requirement that private sector companies must prove a 10 percent cost savings over government employees in public-private competitions.

States Make Last Fundraising Dash Before Election Day ACEC's state organizations are following up a successful fundraising effort at the Fall Conference in Portland with a last push to meet their respective fundraising goals before Election Day. ACEC of Nebraska was honored in Portland as the first state to hit the mark, and a number of other states are coming close. Earlier this year, ACEC/PAC Trustees adopted a goal of raising $500,000 in 2004, and set goals for each state based on membership strength. Click here for information on your state's fundraising goal for 2004 and the progress to date. "We're making progress, and many states are coming in close, but we need a last, big push from all of our state organizations to help us raise the funds we need before Election Day," said ACEC/PAC Chairman Ed Parrone. For more information, contact ACEC/PAC Director Jenny Sheffield at jsheffield@acec.org.

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