Heat Is on Airport Agency

City Controller Laura Chick stopped short Monday of releasing names and details of “potential illegal acts” uncovered during a routine audit of the Los Angeles airport department. But in calling for local, state and federal investigations into how the agency awards contracts, Chick did spell out how vulnerable the department’s contract process was to abuse. Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and the City Council don’t need to wait for an investigation to order those problems fixed.

Instead of rushing to improve the process, however, Hahn hastened Tuesday to defend Airport Commission President Ted Stein, his appointee and an avid fundraiser. According to the mayor, Stein (who did not return calls from The Times) denies ever requesting campaign contributions from people who had business at Los Angeles International Airport or at the other three airports -- in Van Nuys, Palmdale and Ontario -- that his commission oversees.

It would be naive, of course, to contend that mayoral appointments are not political prizes for influential supporters. It would be equally unrealistic to view large campaign contributions as mere expressions of support rather than attempts to win influence. But even -- or especially -- knowing these realities, the public has long expected appointees to be careful to avoid not just conflict but the appearance of conflict. That is particularly true for such potentially conflict-ridden agencies as the airport commission, which awards hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts each year.

Yet well before the audit, airport contracts were raising eyebrows. In 2001, for example, the airport commission sought a $1.5-million contract extension for Winner & Associates, an Encino public relations firm and a major Hahn contributor hired three years earlier to promote expansion of LAX. But by then public opinion had all but killed the expansion plan, a new plan was not yet in place and LAX was bleeding money because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Public outcry caused the PR firm to withdraw.

Hahn wouldn’t be forced to defend his appointees’ actions if the contract-awarding process itself were more defensible. Chick’s audit faulted the agency for not having clear guidelines for choosing among bids. It also found that commissioners sometimes sit in on the initial contract evaluations in addition to making the final choice. Not only is this micromanaging, it introduces an opportunity to influence which contractors even get considered. Compounding the appearance of conflict, the audit found inadequate documentation of why bids were accepted or rejected in all 10 of the audited contracts in which board members participated, even when the commissioners rejected staff recommendations.

The airport department has 30 days to respond to the audit, which has added one more layer of doubt to the City Council’s consideration of Hahn’s controversial $9-billion LAX remodeling plan. That’s a lot of contracts.