WestCon Tribune
November 2000
November News
RENEWALS AND
NEW MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
In an effort to increase dinner meeting attendance, Westcon commraderie and networking, the Board proposed that two dinner tickets be included with the membership package. The resolution was passed at the October Board meeting and therefore will increase the membership dues by $50.00. The $50.00 increase will go towards two dinner tickets for each member to be used in a period of one year. This represents a $5.00 discount on the two dinners. Members further have the option to use their dinner tickets for guests. For those who have company memberships, two dinner tickets will also be given to each associate reflecting the increase in price. Fees for the "Retired membership" catagory will remain the same cost with no dinner tickets included.
Renewal notices should be out in November with a deadline date of March 1, 2001 for inclusion in the 2001 Westcon Directory.
Westcon would like to welcome new member Frank Arms. Mr. Arms has over 35 years of experience in the construction and development industry. This includes work as a construction superintendent, senior project manager, VP for development and general manager of a construction firm. For the past 15 years Mr. Arms has worked as a consultant and principal of F.L. Arms and Associates in Oakland, serving the needs of owners and developers in managing construction projects and dealing with specific construciton problems and issues.
As the "foremost forum of Bay Area Experts" we may be sympathetic to the following thoughts which ended up in print:
"The atom bomb will never go off.. and I speak as an expert in explosives" - U.S. Admiral William Leahy in 1945
"Television won’t matter in your lifetime or mine." - Radio Times editor Rex Lambert, 1936
"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - director of the U.S. Patent Office, 1899. There had been a serious movement to close the U.S. Patent Office in the late 1890’s.
"Radio has no future." "X-rays are clearly a hoax." and "The aeroplane is scientifically impossible." - Royal Society president Lord Kelvin, between 1897 and 1899.
"You ought to go back to driving a truck." - Concert manager firing Elvis Presley in 1954.
Westcon will be holding its one-day symposium on Foundation, Structure & Waterproofing of Frame Buildings Friday November 3, 2000. The event will run from 8:30am to 5:00pm at Hs Lordships Restaurant, 199 Seawall Drive in the Berkeley Marina.
The Symposium will feature three panels, one each on foundations, structures and waterproofing, and is pleased to have the Honorable John Marlo as its keynote speaker. Mr. Marlo has over twenty-five years of experience as a judicial officer whose primary interest in law is the efficient resolution of disputes. He has presided over many construction defect cases including Gonzales v. Cabrillo College and the City of Concord v. Spielten, housing development case.
For more information, or if you have not sent in your registration form, contact Rikki immediately at 415 451-4897.
November Ballot - Proposition 35
The goal of Proposition 35 is to amend the State Constitution and remove the prohibition against contracting out for design services and replace it with permissive language specifically allowing state and local government agencies to contract with qualified design firms.
Reasons to support Prop 35:
- Creates taxpayer savings and accountability by giving state and local governments the authority to create public-private partnerships as in the other 49 states.
- Speeds up necessary work on overcrowded schools, seismic retrofits, hospitals, prisons and overdue public works projects, delivering them on time and on budget.
- Saves California taxpayers more than $2.5 bilion annually and creates 40,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
- Preserves the Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) process.
- Supported by contractors, engineers, local governments, school districts, and the League of Cities and Counties.
IDEAS? If you would like to give a presentation to Westcon, or have ideas or topics you would like discussed, please notify Fred Field, Program Director at (415) 485–5882. All suggestions are welcome!
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Send submittals to Rikki Field at Box 305, Ross, CA 94957: (415) 451–4897