{"id":488708,"date":"2026-10-08T02:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T02:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488708\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T02:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T02:26:12","slug":"santa-clara-charter-change-for-procurement-measure-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488708\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Clara Charter Change for Procurement: Measure C"},"content":{"rendered":"

Santa Clara\u2019s Measure C asks voters to approve a single change to the city charter: raising the dollar threshold that requires City Council approval and formal competitive bidding on public works contracts, from $1,000 to $250,000. It also allows \u201ccompetitive \u2018best value\u2019\u201d contracting methods, principally design-build. There\u2019s no change to the requirement that contracts go to the lowest responsive bidder. The $1,000 limit has been on the books since 1952, when voters approved the original charter.<\/p>\n

Measure C is the remaining product of a comprehensive charter overhaul that a review committee spent almost a year drafting. After council members couldn\u2019t agree on several of its provisions, the council directed<\/a> the city attorney to draft the procurement provision as a standalone ballot measure. The change is important as the city moves forward with infrastructure projects funded by 2024\u2019s $400 million infrastructure bond, Measure I.<\/a><\/p>\n

The change would allow the city to use alternative construction methods, chiefly design-build, instead of relying only on the conventional design-bid-build process. Design-build \u2014 \u201cmaster-builder\u201d \u2014 was the model for construction projects from antiquity until the Industrial Revolution.<\/p>\n

Design-build is a project delivery method for construction where a single entity holds the contract for both design and construction, rather than hiring an architect and a contractor separately under two contracts. With a single point of responsibility, design-build reduces the potential for conflict and finger-pointing and opens opportunities for faster completion.<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Devid\"Devid<\/a><\/p>\n

Levi\u2019s Stadium was built with a design-build contract. This required a special state law (carried by state senator Elaine Alquist) and a new city ordinance (Chapter 17.30<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Measure C supporters, which include Council Members Suds Jain and Karen Hardy, say that raising the threshold would allow design-build on larger projects, potentially speeding up construction and reducing bid inflation.<\/p>\n

Opponents haven\u2019t filed a formal argument against the measure, but critics include Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Council Member Kelly Cox, who have said that the measure doesn\u2019t define what counts as a \u201cmajor\u201d project. As the proposed charter change doesn\u2019t use those words, presumably they were referring to \u201cbest value contracting.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Kevin\"Kevin<\/a><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Santa Clara voters have been asked to raise this threshold. In 1994, Measure L proposed letting the city award public works contracts up to $50,000 without published bid notices, with annual increases tied to inflation. Voters rejected it.<\/p>\n

For more information, the city clerk\u2019s office has posted<\/a> Measure C\u2019s impartial analysis and the argument in favor. The measure needs a simple majority to pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Santa Clara\u2019s Measure C asks voters to approve a single change to the city charter: raising the dollar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[37332,6036,88,90,89,197,2921,2922],"class_list":["post-488708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2025-charter-review-committee","tag-bay-area-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-weekly","tag-silicon-valley-voice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}