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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO <br />MEMORANDUM <br />DATE: September 17, 2009 <br />TO: City Council Rules and Communications Committee <br />FROM: Luke Sims, Community Development Director <br />VIA: Cynthia Battenberg, Business Development Manager <br />BY: Jeff Kay, Business Development Analyst <br />SUBJECT: Discussion Regarding Project Labor Policies <br />This report summarizes the results of staff research on options for implementation of a project <br />labor or labor peace policy governing development activities in the City. The research covered a <br />wide array of public agencies throughout California as well as an examination of the policy <br />interests of both trade unions and developers. The ultimate goal of a City policy will be to <br />facilitate labor peace and high-quality working conditions for laborers, while minimizing <br />negative impacts to developers that could threaten the financial viability of development activity. <br />RANGE OF POLICY ALTERNATIVES <br />Public agencies in California have implemented a wide range of policies governing project labor. <br />These policies vary in both their intent and their impact on labor and development. This section <br />provides a broad overview of policy alternatives beginning with those with the least impact and <br />progressing to alternatives that have mandatory requirements and a substantial impact. <br />"Best Efforts" clauses: Use of language indicating that labor peace is a City priority can <br />send a message to the development community and the general public without imposing <br />any specific requirements on developers. Under these clauses, developers are required to <br />make a good faith effort to achieve labor peace. Benefits of these policies include a <br />slight increase in the likelihood of labor harmony and a reduced risk of strikes during <br />development. The financial impact on developers is minimal because no mandated costs <br />are imposed upon them. The lack of concrete requirements, on the other hand, means <br />that positive results are not guaranteed. Absent a complete lack of effort on the part of <br />developers, "best efforts" clauses can also be difficult to enforce. <br />In effect, the ultimate result of a "best efforts" requirement in a City policy will be to <br />document a City priority without substantively changing the rules governing <br />development. The policy may yield positive results, but those results would be difficult <br />to measure and may differ from project to project. <br />1 <br />