City Calls for Construction Transparency on Border Wall

LOS ANGELES—Thursday, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo proposed a motion that will require contractors to publicly disclose any bids on President Trump's proposed border wall project. According to Cedillo, the proposed motion is the first of its kind, and will ensure transparency in the city's contracting process.

“I would hope that those who want to do business with us share our values and understand the importance of a city that is significantly immigrant, that the foundation of our economy is immigrant, that our social fabric is immigrant,” Cedillo said during a press conference announcing the proposal.

The Councilmember held the conference with tremendous community support, from a coalition of immigration rights, community, and labor leaders. The support is coming from groups that do not support the proposed border wall. “We are a nation of immigrants. A significant amount of the city's population are immigrants and help to empower our local economy, either through their work or through the businesses that they have in the city,” Adan Alvarez of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, one of the groups that supports the proposal, tells GlobeSt.com. “As tax payers, they have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and whether or not there are companies working with the cities submitting bids to construct President Trump's proposed border wall.”

Under the proposal, contractors seeking to work or working on the border wall will be required to disclose under affidavit the contracts. If contractors do not disclose the required information, there will be strict penalties in the form of a fine.

In the last year, there have been several measures involving construction and contractors in Los Angeles. Last November, Measure JJJ passed, requiring contractors hire local union labor on development projects with exemptions to the general plan, and in March Measure S, which failed at the ballot, would have stopped construction of exempt projects.

LOS ANGELES—Thursday, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo proposed a motion that will require contractors to publicly disclose any bids on President Trump's proposed border wall project. According to Cedillo, the proposed motion is the first of its kind, and will ensure transparency in the city's contracting process.

“I would hope that those who want to do business with us share our values and understand the importance of a city that is significantly immigrant, that the foundation of our economy is immigrant, that our social fabric is immigrant,” Cedillo said during a press conference announcing the proposal.

The Councilmember held the conference with tremendous community support, from a coalition of immigration rights, community, and labor leaders. The support is coming from groups that do not support the proposed border wall. “We are a nation of immigrants. A significant amount of the city's population are immigrants and help to empower our local economy, either through their work or through the businesses that they have in the city,” Adan Alvarez of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, one of the groups that supports the proposal, tells GlobeSt.com. “As tax payers, they have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and whether or not there are companies working with the cities submitting bids to construct President Trump's proposed border wall.”

Under the proposal, contractors seeking to work or working on the border wall will be required to disclose under affidavit the contracts. If contractors do not disclose the required information, there will be strict penalties in the form of a fine.

In the last year, there have been several measures involving construction and contractors in Los Angeles. Last November, Measure JJJ passed, requiring contractors hire local union labor on development projects with exemptions to the general plan, and in March Measure S, which failed at the ballot, would have stopped construction of exempt projects.