Countywide
The sixth San Diego County grand jury to review a controversial 1981 county landfill contract recommended Thursday that the county improve its contracting process.
The 1985-86 jury examined the most recent complaint surrounding the landfill contract awarded to Herzog Contracting Corp. of Missouri. The citizen’s complaint questioned the process by which the contract was awarded and the amount of money the county allegedly lost by including resource recovery options in the contract.
The contract included the operation of six landfills in San Diego County and four resource recovery options, among them the controversial option for a trash-to-energy plant in San Marcos.
The grand jury found that “for the most part, the participants appeared to act in good faith, and in the best interest of the County of San Diego and its citizens.”
Among recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, the jury suggested that future contract bidders be required to disclose financial interests surrounding the project under bid, and it advised strict enforcement of the ordinance regulating lobbying activities while a contract decision is pending.
The jury also urged board members to reject and immediately return campaign contributions from bidders while a contract is under consideration.
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