By Lookout Staff

September 22, 2010 -- City staff says it has found a new business from which to purchase manufactured homes for the City-owned Mountain View Mobile Home Park, and the price will be the same as it would have been had the City purchased from an Arizona company.

Staff last month proposed a $3 million contract for the replacement homes with a team of Marmol Radziner Prefab from West Los Angeles and Cavco Industries Inc. from Phoenix. This proposal was made following a selection process that lasted a year and a half. But a majority of the council rejected the proposal because of the City’s Arizona boycott due to the State’s passage of an illegal immigration enforcement law.

“When we decided to enact the Arizona boycott, it wasn’t just about putting pressure, if you will, on Arizona,” Council member Gleam Davis said. “It was about taking a stand. And stands don’t mean much if the second they become inconvenient, you abandon them.”

City staff was instructed to find a new business not located in Arizona. The council asked staff to negotiate the contract through an open market process. This is a rarely done procedure in which staff directly contacts businesses to find the best deal rather than go through the lengthy process of issuing a request for proposals and receiving bids.

According to a City report released this week, staff has selected Golden West Homes of Perris, Calif. This business will also partner with Marmol Radziner Prefab for a contract not to exceed $3 million.

“The Golden West Homes proposal provides the same quality affordable homes with the added benefit of keeping City dollars in the Southern California region,” the report states. “Also, in keeping with the City’s commitment to sustainable practices, the Perris plant’s location, 310 miles closer to Santa Monica than that of Cavco, will result in fewer carbon emissions.”

The report also states, “Golden West Homes offers the additional advantage of homebuyer financing that Park residents may use in the future when replacing their homes.”

The proposal will go before the council at the next meeting on Sept. 28. A detailed staff report will be available a few days prior to the meeting.

The council voted for the Arizona boycott in May due to the passage of SB 1070, an illegal immigration enforcement law that some consider racist. The law has been challenged in federal court by several entities, including the federal government. A federal judge in July blocked all the controversial features of the law from taking effect while the litigation is pending.

The Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and the Board of Education for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District also approved Arizona boycotts. Their boycotts also are due to the passage of HB 2281, which prohibits “ethnic studies” courses in K-12 education.