LAPD’s Contract With Motorola Delayed by Panel
Amid serious concerns over Motorola Inc.’s execution of its existing contract to upgrade part of the Los Angeles Police Department’s emergency communications system, a City Council committee delayed action once again Monday on a separate $51-million contract with the company until it is clear the firm will meet its current obligations.
After a lengthy Public Safety Committee hearing, council members agreed that they had too many concerns about Motorola’s track record with its LAPD contract to hand the company another major one. Chief among those anxieties were the company’s requests for significant changes to the contract and its decision to substitute subcontractors.
Officials from Motorola Inc., which is seeking the $51-million contract for a new police radio communications system, have strongly defended the company’s performance on other LAPD pacts and insist that they have hired subcontractors fairly.
But some City Council members, and even LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, have questioned the company’s commitment to its existing $20-million contract with the LAPD. In all, the Illinois-based company currently has $90 million in city contracts funded by the voter-approved Proposition M bond measure, a $235-million effort aimed at improving the city’s 911 emergency system.
Motorola was the sole bidder on the $51-million project that is expected to replace the city’s antiquated radio infrastructure, including towers and transmitters.
But questions have been raised about the company’s hiring of two subcontractors, Cordoba Corp. and Pacifica Services, both politically well-connected Los Angeles firms with ties to Councilman Richard Alatorre. The company also has hired a lobbyist, Kathy Moret, who is a friend of Alatorre and Parks.
Cordoba’s president, George Pla, declined to comment Monday, referring all questions about his contract to Motorola officials. Cordoba has multiple contracts with the city, including a $2.9-million contract with Motorola to provide work on another LAPD project.
Cordoba, which could make $446,000 on the proposed agreement, came under attack in March when a Commerce Department audit found that the firm improperly spent government funds in a failed attempt to run a federal program for minority businesses. Cordoba also was among the companies criticized last summer for paying a retainer fee to a fund-raising firm formed by Alatorre’s wife.
The $51-million Motorola contract was swiftly approved in the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, which Alatorre heads, but the Public Safety Committee is holding back on giving the company another contract without assurances that it will meet the terms and conditions of the existing one.
It was the second time the committee has delayed action on the contract. Last month, the panel asked the full council to delay the agreement to give council members more time to review it. Alatorre said at that time that he wanted an exact date for the contract to be reviewed by the council.
The LAPD--which has harshly criticized Motorola’s performance under the existing contract--is seeking swift approval on the $51-million pact, saying that delays will not correct the problems in the existing project.
But Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Laura Chick, along with her colleagues Richard Alarcon and Mike Feuer, said they want written assurances that the company will meet its obligations without seriously increasing costs.
“It’s a reach for me to think one contract has nothing to do with another contract,” Chick said.
Chick also complained that she does not “quite understand how the decisions are made on subcontractors. . . . For me, there’s a real level of discomfort.”
After lengthy questioning of Motorola officials and city officials, it appeared that one of the subcontractors may have been replaced by Cordoba.
Motorola officials, meanwhile, defended their business practices, attempting to assure the council that the company won’t increase prices and significantly change the terms of the contract despite a 14-month delay.
