Lobbying by Architects for County Hospital Pacts Builds Anger : Government: They charge unfairness in the selection process. Supervisors delay action on 2 largest projects.

Quiet lobbying by top architects seeking lucrative design contracts for a $2.1-billion public hospital building program erupted in anger before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, with architects charging unfairness in the selection process and county officials acknowledging some “anomalies.”

The selection process--unusual in that it was run by health department officials, not county public works engineers--drew especially sharp criticism Tuesday after proceeding in relative calm for months.

Voicing their own concerns, the supervisors postponed awarding design contracts on the two biggest construction projects--replacing the giant County-USC Medical Center and building a public hospital in the San Gabriel Valley.

However, supervisors gave the go-ahead for design work on a facility to replace High Desert Medical Center in Lancaster.

As the criticism mounted, the prospects for financing the hospital construction plan--among the largest public works projects planned in the nation--remained unclear.

County officials hope voters will provide the money by approving two bond issues but spending authority may be endangered by the poor economy. Architectural fees alone are estimated at $100 million--enough to attract the nation’s top architectural firms. The undertaking comes at a time when major firms are laying off employees and seeking work in a virtually stagnant building market.

These “bad times” account for the unusual public in-fighting and self-promotion before the supervisors Tuesday, said Gyo Obata, chairman of St. Louis-based Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK), the front-runner for the highly prized County-USC design contract, worth about $40 million.

“It was one of the worst shows of professionals . . . I’ve ever seen,” Obata said.

Architect Julia Thomas, chief executive officer of Bobrow/Thomas and Associates of Los Angeles, which was not recommended for a contract, called Tuesday’s proceedings “a circus.”

Thomas faulted the health department for not putting enough weight on cost-saving measures in her company’s proposal and for soliciting opinions about her firm from clients without giving her firm an opportunity to respond.

Her criticism was backed up by the county’s Director of Internal Services, William Stewart, whom the supervisors on Jan. 7 had asked to determine if the health department’s selection process was fair.

In a report released late Monday, Stewart told the supervisors that the health department’s selection process contained “a few anomalies” but was not materially flawed as a result. One problem, he said, was the failure to check references before interviewing the companies.

The supervisors, however, thought such flaws were significant. They voted 4 to 1 to postpone action on some contracts for four weeks. Supervisor Gloria Molina was absent.

Chairman Deane Dana, who said he believes the process was “tainted,” criticized Stewart, saying he did not go far enough in his review. He expressed dismay that Stewart had not interviewed representatives for any of the nine competing architectural firms and that he only evaluated the three top-ranked proposals.

The presence of lobbyists working behind the scenes and allegations about the legitimacy of minority representation claimed by the leading architectural team has also raised tensions.

In ranking the candidates, county health officials considered whether proposals contained sufficient participation by minority-owned firms.

HOK has come under fire from several Latino professionals who say the firm is erroneously claiming them as members of the HOK team.

Alycia Enciso, an interior designer, said she recently discovered that HOK listed her in documents filed with the county as a minority member of their team, when she had no agreement to work with the firm and is committed to a competing team.

The supervisors approved Ashen & Allen, Stone Marraccini Patterson and Langdon Wilson for the design of the High Desert Medical Center.