Expert Analysis Confirms Paper Meeting Berkeley’s Standards is Nonexistent
To the surprise of the City Manager, an independent audit has determined that office paper conforming to Berkeley’s stringent standards does not exist. Officials in the General Services Administration, who are in charge of procurement, had no idea of the complex rules governing office paper use. The auditor’s report concluded: “After decades of legislating paper requirements, the city has reached a point where we can no longer identify a product that complies with Berkeley’s exhaustive standards.”
In the late 1980s, then councilmember Nancy Skinner led the “green wave” of procurement policies. Skinner noted, “back then everyone was concerned with our landfill crisis and toxic pollutants. Dioxin from paper mills was public enemy number one.” Skinner recounted fondly how the first Sustainable Cities conference provided a backdrop for announcing Berkeley’s requirements for chlorine free paper and minimum recycled content. “Back in the day, we really felt we could save the planet with government procurement policy, and this was our first big leap.”
Once Skinner moved on to the state legislature the paper chase continued. New legislation intended to promote sustainable forestry further limited the number of products available. More recently, carbon offsets and labor practices attracted the attention of progressive councilmembers. One councilmember, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stated “look if your memo outlining your proposal to ban illuminated building signs does not carry the union bug, the legislation is DOA.”
The auditors identified over a dozen laws governing paper use and were bewildered by how the procurement agency was unaware of the specific standards. The GSA director responded, “Look we keep layering rule on top of rule in Berkeley without any grasp of what has come before. It is simply impossible to keep up, and in fact, we generally don’t try. Unfortunately, some bright spark called for an independent audit and bingo no one can use the copy machines.”
In response to the auditor’s findings, a local carbon-neutral, organic, fair trade papyrus farmer has offered to supply the city. The farmer noted, “it might cost fifty times more and jam the copiers, but this product is compliant.”
Paper Conforming to City Procurement Standards on Display at City Hall