Posted on: Thursday, December 26, 2002

ISLAND VOICES
Bring end to suspect contracts

By Horst Brandes

The American Society of Civil Engineers has been following the recent allegations of improper political campaign contributions by local engineering firms with a great deal of anguish. Some of the individuals who have been accused of wrongdoing are civil engineers and members of our organization. We want to make it clear that we disapprove of the practice of exchanging campaign contributions for government contracts.

ASCE has a strict code of ethics, which states its Canon, "Engineers shall not give, solicit or receive, either directly or indirectly, any political contribution, gratuity or unlawful consideration in order to secure work ..." The society enforces this code and will take disciplinary action if warranted.

This behavior is clearly out of line. The appearance of impropriety by a few individuals tarnishes the civil engineering profession as a whole. Civil engineers are involved in the planning, design, construction and operation of our infrastructure, from bridges and buildings to roads, airports, harbors, water distribution and sewage treatment systems. Civil engineers rely on the public's trust in their effort to build a better quality of life for everyone. We teach this to our students and expect them to adhere to a high ethical guideline.

ASCE has been working to end the conditions that favor the exchanging of political contributions for contracts. We have been cooperating with other local engineering and architectural organizations to lobby the state Legislature to revise the current Procurement Code to reflect a more open and accountable system, along the lines of Congress' Brooks Act of 1972 and the American Bar Association's Model Procurement Code for State and Local Governments.

The Brooks Act mandates that federal engineering, architectural and surveying contracts be awarded by means of a Qualifications Based Selection system.

We are pleased to hear Gov. Linda Lingle state in her inauguration address that "a new beginning means awarding contracts openly and strictly based on merit of the proposal." When her administration is in place, we are hopeful the practice of exchanging political contributions for contracts can be eliminated once and for all in Hawai'i.

Horst Brandes, Ph.D., P.E., is president of the American Society of Civil Engineers Hawai'i Section.