Leaders Seek to Toughen Contractor Guidelines

Pushing to change the way Ventura County awards contracts, two county leaders are asking the Board of Supervisors today to develop criteria for rating construction contractors--and punishing those who do not live up to the standards.

The request by Supervisors John Flynn and Susan Lacey comes as environmentalists hammer county officials for continuing to do business with Somis-based contractor Tom A. Staben, despite his lengthy rap sheet of illegal dumping and code violations.

Staben--who is under investigation by local, state and federal authorities--has been cited for building a lake near Moorpark without permits and excavating the ecologically sensitive Ventura River bottom to obtain raw materials for another project.

But county public works officials contend that they have no choice but to award Staben more contracts. They say their hands are tied by a state law that such work must go to the “lowest responsible bidder,” an ambiguous requirement officials say Staben meets.

Hoping to strengthen the regulations, Flynn and Lacey are recommending that the county follow the lead of the city of Los Angeles by developing a system for rating construction contractors.

Those who violate one or more of the criteria--by breaking environmental or labor laws, for example--would be slapped with “significant” penalties and fines, according to a county report. Contractors could even be declared irresponsible, losing the ability to bid for county work.

Differing sharply with their Los Angeles counterparts, however, Ventura County officials contend that they currently lack the legal authority to create such a system and must lobby for a change in state law.

To that end, Flynn and Lacey are asking their colleagues to support a bill by Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-San Rafael) that would clarify the existing law and allow public agencies to establish rating criteria to determine the “ability, competency and integrity” of bidders.

“If the bill becomes law, then we have more authority to do a change in policy,” Flynn said. “Right now, our authority is unclear. Our county counsel believes we don’t have the authority right now to do it, but Los Angeles has a different opinion.”

Attorney John Buse of the Environmental Defense Center, one of the strongest critics of the county’s dealings with Staben, said county leaders appear to be headed in the right direction.

“The grading system sounds like a very positive step,” Buse said. “The important thing is how it is used in the overall contracting process.”

Staben could not be reached for comment Monday.

Although the Los Angeles Board of Public Works voted earlier this year to launch a rating system for contractors, the program has yet to be implemented, officials said.

Sal DeAngelis, the chief construction inspector with the Los Angeles Bureau of Contract Administration, said city officials are struggling with a variety of issues, including whether the criteria used to declare someone an irresponsible contractor should be made public.

But Los Angeles officials are straight on one thing, DeAngelis said: They have the power to set some rules.

“You have to be very careful how you do it, because it is fraught with potential litigation,” DeAngelis said. “But certainly, within the realm of each [government] agency, they can declare different contractors non-responsible.”

Under the Los Angeles system, the responsibility of contractors is gauged using a set of nine criteria, including whether the contractor or any of its key employees or stakeholders has failed to provide “satisfactory performance” on previous contracts during the past five years.

Violating worker compensation or environmental laws while carrying out a contract counts as unsatisfactory and could be grounds for being declared irresponsible.

Contractors declared unfit to carry out current and future Los Angeles contracts are informed they cannot bid for work in writing, and can request a hearing to dispute the findings.

In Ventura County, Flynn and Lacey are hoping to create a committee--from the various county departments that would be affected by the change--to develop the rating system. If the Mazzoni bill becomes law, county leaders would then implement the committee’s system--and all construction contractors hoping to do business with the county would have to stay clean.

It is about time local agencies put more teeth in their guidelines for contractors, DeAngelis said.

“It seems to be a subject near and dear to many people’s hearts right now,” he said. “Sometimes, you see the same name popping up, and you wish you didn’t see that name. If someone doesn’t do the job right once, chances are they’re going to do it wrong again.”