2016 Directory

12 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .16 | www.aia-wyoming.org A s always seems to be the case, the Government Advocacy Committee has plenty of issues to look in to. The past year has been no exception. We have reviewed and acted on many of the items brought forward and continue to be involved in many ongoing issues. In preparation for the 2016 legislative session and the decline in revenues to the State, our committee felt it was important to take a stand to protect jobs within the construction commu- nity. With that, AIA Wyoming sent a letter to Governor Matt Mead and all State legislators. This letter expressed the need for the State to continue funding infrastructure projects statewide and suggested, if need be, to dip into the rainy day funding. We encouraged the Wy- oming Construction Coalition and Engineers to do the same. The Wyoming Construction Coalition’s response was that they thought we were basically “premature” in our thinking and that they thought the next biennium would be the time for this effort. A Food Service Consultant contacted AIA Wyoming inquiring about specific public funding parameters/regulations as it pertains to design team selections. He has noticed that over the years there have been multiple occasions that publically funded projects within the state include foodservice equipment deal- ers as the food service equipment designers. These projects include designs/specifications influenced by equipment selections that align the dealer with the final contract for services. His concern is that there are kickbacks, spiff, or spiv. or bonuses for specifying a manufactures product. His fear was that this could create a violation with our contracts that are held with State agencies. We researched the situation and could find no law regarding the topic as it applied to how consultants for a project are to be selected or equipment is to be specified. We found that Food Service Equipment as viewed by the Wy- oming School Facilities Department does not fall into the same category as FF&E for which there is legislation. At this point our com- mittee’s recommendation will be for the AIA Wyoming Board of Directors to issue a letter to the membership encouraging the members to use qualified Food Service Consultants. An email was sent to the consultant explaining our findings. As requested by Susan Menghini, Execu- tive Director, the committee participated in completing the accreditation form for AIA National regarding the Core Member Services and government advocacy. The committee hosted a Legislative Reception in February which was held in conjunction with our Winter Conference in Cheyenne. The committee will continue to build relationships with our State legislators. Mike Potter, AIA who is a member of this committee and AIA Wyoming’s representative for AIA’s State Government Network (SGN) reported that the residency issue is now becom- ing a National issue as Mike has been receiving emails from the SGN network. We have had discussions on the way that the Wyoming De- partment of Transportation establishes Archi- tectural fees for projects but after researching the question, determined they have been doing it their way for a long period of time and likely not worth messing with. We did decide to keep an eye out for other institutions that might try using the same or similar system.In early May of this year, we learned that there has been a new committee established within the State called the Commercial Construction Com- mittee. This committee is a joint committee comprised of members of Administration and Information (A&I) Construction Management, School Facilities Department (SFD), Wyoming Construction Coalition (WCC), and Wyoming Contractors Association (WCA). Also making up the committee are directors of facilities at various School Districts around the State. It appears that this committee is due to the legislation passed last year which will combine A&I and the SFD into one department. This department will oversee the States construction funded from the general fund. The Govern- ment Advocacy Committee feels that we need a place at the table and are pursuing it. The topics that have been discussed are far ranging from specifications to roofs and many of these could affect architects. Government Advocacy Committee Advocating for the OUR Profession BY CHARLIE VAN OVER, AIA, CHAIR Members of Government Advocacy Committee: Charlie Van Over, AIA, Chair Colleen Nelson, AIA Cornelius Kinsey, AIA Mike Potter, AIA Lyle Murtha, AIA Randall Hein, AIA