Re: Old High School

[Dale Goble <gobled@uidaho.edu>]

On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, John and Laurie Danahy wrote:

> .... The private sector must deal with competitors.  The
> public sector does not, because competition is severly limited by rules and
> regulations.  A contractor bidding on a public works project must jump thru
> many hoops just to qualify as a bidder, but only needs to be low bidder on
> a private project.


A project may seek to obtain values that are not economic.  For example, a
public swimming pool might be constructed to allow its use by a broader
range of people (including disabled) while a private swimming pool might
be designed simply to maximize the return on the investment.  

Stated differently: dollars are not the only thing that we seek.  We may
also seek community values -- the idea that a public pool ought to be
accessible to all citizens, for example -- values that are inadequately if
at all expressed in dollars.

A contractor for a public project may also have to jump through
affirmative action hoops because we as a society have concluded that it is
important to take steps to change the effects of racist behavior.

Dale Goble
Moscow