Firm With Ties to Campbell Renews Consulting Permit

A New Orleans asbestos-consulting firm with political ties to state Sen. William R. Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) can keep more than $300,000 in state contracts because it renewed its registration to perform its work by the Monday deadline, records show.

Asbestos Environmental Controls Inc. was given until 5 p.m. Monday by the Office of the State Architect to renew its registration or lose its contracts to help plan for the removal of the hazardous materials in state structures in Orange and Riverside counties. The company had allowed its registration to lapse on June 10.

A spokesman for the architect’s office said the company completed its registration renewal by the 5 p.m. deadline Monday and can keep the contracts.

The company has come under scrutiny after published reports revealing that the firm’s president supplied limousine service and helped arrange a speaking engagement for Campbell and a top aide during the Republican National Convention in New Orleans last summer. Campbell and the aide, Jerry Haleva, failed to report the limousine service on their economic interest reporting forms for last year.

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission has opened an investigation into the matter, and Campbell and Haleva last week amended their forms to show the limousine service, valued at more than $750.

The company and its president contributed $27,000 to two Campbell campaign committees in 1987 and 1988. Meanwhile, the reports said, Haleva contacted the state architect’s office two times last year when the firm ran into difficulties over keeping contracts.

At Haleva’s request, the architect’s office extended a deadline to allow the firm to register for the asbestos program in the first place, the architect’s office has confirmed.