If all goes as planned, a private foundation that is raising funds to fix up the crumbling governor’s mansion in Springfield may start work this summer – if a judge doesn’t get in the way.
Brad Schaive, business manager for Laborers Local 477 in Springfield, vows a lawsuit if the foundation tries to restore the mansion outside established protocols that include the use of labor paid at prevailing wages. State law, Schaive says, requires that prevailing wages be paid for work on state-owned buildings, and the mansion qualifies. Prevailing wages are typically wages paid by contractors who use union labor and are often higher than wages paid by non-union shops.
“If they do it, they’re going to get sued,” Schaive said. “I’ve been waiting for them to do it. The governor cannot arbitrarily go outside the law.”
Schaive said that officials at the state Capital Development Board, which oversees construction and renovation projects for state facilities, have told him that the governor’s office pulled all mansion repair and restoration work from the board’s purview more than two months ago.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Schaive said. “He (Gov. Bruce Rauner) pulled it and said ‘We’ll do it ourselves.’ He did it so he could unilaterally take this project and pick an outside contractor and avert prevailing wage. … I’ve never seen anyone who spews more venom toward blue-collar men and women and the working class than this person.”
Lyndsey Walters, spokeswoman for the state Capital Development Board, could not immediately confirm whether Rauner has taken the mansion project out of the board’s purview or what role, if any, the board will play as the private restoration effort goes forward. A spokesman for the governor’s office could not immediately be reached.
The Capital Development Board acts as the state’s construction management firm, developing plans for new buildings and renovating and rehabilitating existing ones. The agency creates requests for proposals, receives bids from contractors and awards contracts.
Andy Van Meter, Sangamon County board chairman and a member of the Illinois Executive Mansion Association that is raising funds for renovations, said that the association has obtained an $8.8 million estimate for repairs from the Capital Development Board. The association now plans to retain a consultant who is an expert in historic structures to obtain a more detailed estimate for a complete restoration of the mansion, Van Meter said.
Van Meter said that he is unaware of any controversy at the mansion regarding the use of labor paid at a prevailing wage, which typically means that union, as opposed to non-union, contractors are awarded work. He said he expects the mansion’s leaky roof to be fixed early on.
“If the analysis demonstrates the roof is the first priority, we hope to start (work) this summer,” Van Meter said.
But Schaive warned that it may not be as easy as simply buying materials and hiring a roofer. He said that he’s not the only union official who’s concerned by the governor’s move to go outside established protocol.
“I think everyone’s upset by it,” Schaive said. “I think that it’s going to end up being litigated.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2015.
