O.C. Firm Backed for Work at L.A. Schools

After months of turbulent bidding for a lucrative air-conditioning contract, a clear front-runner emerged Monday as a Los Angeles school official recommended one of four outside firms competing against the district’s own management team.

In a surprise move, the district’s new business czar, Hugh Jones, recommended New West/Rogers Corporate Alliance, a Dana Point-based joint venture that had been passed over in earlier evaluations of bids for the roughly $200-million job financed by the Proposition BB bond approved by voters in April.

Jones told the Board of Education on Monday that the firm’s price of $180 million for installing air-conditioning in 164 schools was $50 million less than the next lowest bidder.

The district’s management team, hired in June to oversee more than $1 billion in bond-financed improvements, has estimated it could do the work for $234 million.

Only slightly lower was the $230-million bid of Energy Alliance, a joint venture including the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and The Gas Co.

The Energy Alliance precipitated the unusual bidding procedure in May with a “fast-track” proposal to air condition about 300 schools for millions less than the district had budgeted for the work and in only a third of the time. Since then, 10 other firms had bid against the district’s management team. Some were eliminated after reviews this summer. Others dropped out, expressing frustration with the process.

Steve Siverson is general manager of New West/Rogers Corporate Alliance. Rogers Corporate Alliance is a general contractor based in Dana Point, and New West is a subsidiary of Salt River Project, which is the largest public utility in Phoenix.

Last month, a school district review committee evaluating five finalists recommended that the district’s team keep the work because its proposal was the least expensive. As second choice, it recommended another joint venturer, PG&E; Energy Services/CH2Hill, because of its experience.

However, Jones, who was appointed during the summer as deputy superintendent in charge of business operations, intervened, saying he wanted to compare all the proposals to see whether they were covering the same work.

Jones said Monday that New West/Rogers was erroneously dismissed because the evaluators thought it did not represent a fixed bid. Further questioning showed that the $180 million bid was a fixed price. He recommended that the board authorize him to negotiate with New West/Rogers to work out an agreement on scope and specifications that would virtually eliminate the possibilities of change orders.

Jones said he plans to return to the board early in January and, if authorized to negotiate, expects to have a contract in place by the end of the month.

The bond oversight committee has scheduled a special meeting Wednesday.