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I recently did some research on the Sacramento City Office Of Arts and Culture because I wondered about the money being spent from the transit occupancy tax on art projects that didn't seem to be bid fairly. I requested the records, and although they took some extra time to obtain, they did comply. anyway, the Arts and Culture Department has been spending some millions on artists works to be planted in various city locations. Paintings, sculptures, murals, etc.. I discovered that almost none of the artists that have been awarded contracts, and paid for them, have California State Contractor's Licenses, even though most were well over the threshold for the requirement to have one. Actually, some were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If any of you know anything about state contractor's license law, you'd know that any works over $500.00 requires a license. I got wind that the council was going to award another one of these contracts at tonight's meeting. Again, the artist is not licensed. I called in to the meeting, and after the "hold" time, I was allowed 2 minutes to speak. I did my utmost to convey that what they were doing was not only illegal, but the contractor's license board conducts "stings" where they offer work over the stated threshold, and when the bidders show up and tender bids on the work, they ask them for their license number, and when that subject doesn't have one, they perform an arrest. no kidding, they put them in handcuffs. Now here we have the government basically in league with unlicensed contractors. I specifically pointed out to his honorless the mayor, they he sat in the state legislature making these laws, even chairing the business and professions committee where the contractor's law is amended. to make the story shorter, my concerns were dismissed, and I might add, a bit condescendingly. So....i did call the head of the department and state my case in longer terms, but it became apparent that they were convinced they could do no wrong. I plan on seeing this through further. Next I'll be going to the contractor's license board with a complaint. I will be updating.
As an aside, there was a brief time the council held that item over, giving me a false sense that they had taken my concerns to heart, but those hopes were soon dashed when i heard one of the councilwenches asked for it because she was concerned that the artist chosen was not from sacramento, and she wished the opportunities were to be doled out to "artists of color"
I'll post a link to the meeting where you can here my angry babbling later.
If any of you know anything about state contractor's license law, you'd know that any works over $500.00 requires a license. I got wind that the council was going to award another one of these contracts at tonight's meeting. Again, the artist is not licensed. I called in to the meeting, and after the "hold" time, I was allowed 2 minutes to speak. I did my utmost to convey that what they were doing was not only illegal, but the contractor's license board conducts "stings" where they offer work over the stated threshold, and when the bidders show up and tender bids on the work, they ask them for their license number, and when that subject doesn't have one, they perform an arrest. no kidding, they put them in handcuffs. Now here we have the government basically in league with unlicensed contractors. I specifically pointed out to his honorless the mayor, they he sat in the state legislature making these laws, even chairing the business and professions committee where the contractor's law is amended. to make the story shorter, my concerns were dismissed, and I might add, a bit condescendingly. So....i did call the head of the department and state my case in longer terms, but it became apparent that they were convinced they could do no wrong. I plan on seeing this through further. Next I'll be going to the contractor's license board with a complaint. I will be updating.
As an aside, there was a brief time the council held that item over, giving me a false sense that they had taken my concerns to heart, but those hopes were soon dashed when i heard one of the councilwenches asked for it because she was concerned that the artist chosen was not from sacramento, and she wished the opportunities were to be doled out to "artists of color"
I'll post a link to the meeting where you can here my angry babbling later.
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