City Council to Review Port Parking Contract

Citing concerns about unspecified “improprieties,” the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday moved to review the Harbor Commission’s recent selection of a new firm to operate parking lots at the nation’s second-largest port.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said she long has heard complaints about the harbor’s processes for awarding contracts, and that this incident raises questions of whether commissioners violated the state’s open meetings laws and unfairly favored a minority-owned business. In addition, she said, she is concerned about a possible conflict of interest involving the contract and another city official.

“I am very concerned that the city, in awarding its contracts to whomever we award them, do so in a way that’s impeccable,” Galanter told her colleagues before the 11-4 vote. “There is something here that, on its face, is unusual.”

Instead of ratifying the commission’s awarding of the $1.5-million contract, the council handed it to Galanter’s Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will review the selection.

On June 6, the Harbor Commission chose Parking Co. of America, ousting the incumbent firm, Five-Star Parking, and ignoring its own staff’s recommendation to hire a third firm, Parking Concepts Inc., which offered the proposal that would have yielded the most money for the city.

“We felt that [Parking Co. of America is] the firm that can provide the best service,” said Harbor Commission President Leland Wong. “We’re looking at costs, we’re looking at history, we’re looking at credibility, we’re looking at all those.”

Wong said the commission made its decision behind closed doors because Five-Star’s attorney had sent a letter to the city raising questions about the staff’s analysis of the three firms’ bids.

Galanter and some other council members wanted more information about whether affirmative action or politics played an unfair role in the selection. The company that won the contract is owned by Alex Chaves, a Latino whose son Eric serves as general counsel to the company. Eric Chaves was recently appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan and confirmed by the council to sit on the city’s Civil Service Commission.

“We were unanimously considered the No. 1 proposal, and we had the best price,” said Bob Hindle of Parking Concepts. “It’s just grossly unfair.”

Eric Chaves and representatives of Five-Star did not return repeated telephone calls for comment. The head of the city’s Ethics Commission said Chaves’ position with the city does not represent an ethical problem.

“We can’t prohibit somebody making a living--unless there’s a clear conflict of interest,” Ethics Commission Executive Director Rebecca Avila said. “I don’t see any connection between the Civil Service Commission and parking.”