Parking Bids Draw a Lot of Competition

This one was mostly about politics, patronage and money. It had little to do with parking and even less to do with airports.

Yet a $71.5-million contract awarded to a parking contractor for Los Angeles International, Van Nuys and Ontario airports narrowly escaped a political blood bath Wednesday.

Five Star Parking was awarded the contract--its bid was the lowest by $12 million--by the Board of Airport Commissioners, which upheld its decision not once but twice.

But the company’s competitors launched an all-out attack on the process, hiring well-known and well-connected City Hall lobbyists to fight to have Five Star’s contract thrown out.

The first City Council vote: 8 to 7 to maintain the contract.

Then came the next wave.

Fighting back against the lobbyists for Five Star’s competitors, Mayor Richard Riordan took time out from his dinner for Democratic site selection committee members Tuesday night to lean on four council members to support the Five Star deal. Riordan said it was a good one for taxpayers.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, meanwhile, took the unusual step of sending a “Dear Colleagues” letter on behalf of Five Star, putting her in rare agreement with the mayor.

“This is great theater,” said Howard Sunkin, a lobbyist fighting for one of the losing bidders, Parking Concepts. “We should sell the movie rights.”

Well, it wasn’t that good, but as the lobbyists circled, even some council members began keeping tally sheets on who was voting with whom.

At one point, Council President John Ferraro, who was trying to reject Five Star, tried to woo Rita Walters to his side by telling her she was supporting the mayor’s position--a role that Walters does not often play.

“John will try anything,” shouted Goldberg, laughing. “Anything.”

At an early point in the discussion, a vote-counting Hal Bernson turned to Mike Feuer and asked: “Where are you going on this?”

Feuer, another council member who received an unusual call from the mayor, responded politely: “Listening. Listening.”

In the end, Five Star prevailed, this time by a 9-6 vote with Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. switching sides. Voting to reject the contract were Richard Alarcon, Richard Alatorre, Bernson, Ferraro, Mike Hernandez and Nate Holden.

Although Five Star’s competitors were not successful, it might not have hurt that one of them hired veteran Los Angeles attorney and legislative advocate Neil Papiano, a close friend of Ferraro and an attorney to Alatorre and Bernson.

The lobbying grew so intense that Five Star officials broke down and hired their own lobbyist a couple of weeks ago to help stave off the onslaught.

“You have one successful bidder and a bunch of disgruntled losers,” Joe Lumer, a visibly relieved general manager of Five Star said after the council vote. “On top of that, you’ve got too much lobbying for what should have been a very simple parking matter.”

At issue were two main concerns raised by Five Star’s competitors: first, that the company couldn’t possibly abide by the city’s living wage laws because of its low bid, and second, that Five Star was unfairly allowed to amend documents already filed as part of its bid.

“Clearly there were some discrepancies in the bid, I don’t care whose side you’re on,” Sunkin said after the lengthy council debate and vote. “The council ruled the discrepancies weren’t significant.”

The city attorney’s office made that point as well, determining that the changes made in an affidavit were considered informalities and would not alter the company’s bid.

Papiano disagreed. “I think the city attorney made a mistake,” he said.

Still, the lobbyists pushed. Several council members mentioned them in their remarks.

“I’ve been lobbied heavily on this,” Hernandez said. “I was confused by all the lobbyists.”

Feuer added: “I don’t care who the lobbyists are or what prestige they bring to the table. . . . For us to undermine [the Airport Commission and staff] would be a testament to bad judgment and influence.”

Others, however, were more careful not to offend their associates and even political advisors who were advocating for the other companies. Holden went so far as to say he had “friends” on all sides of the issue.

But for Goldberg, it was less about the lobbyists and more about their charges that Five Star would fail to live up to the living wage requirements, a law she championed in the council.

As a result, Goldberg revealed that one of the competitors, Ampco Parking, has sued the city, charging that the living wage and other affirmative action requirements are unconstitutional.

“That somewhat redefines chutzpah,” said an astonished Joel Wachs. Wachs, like Riordan and a number of his colleagues, said the issue boiled down to Five Star’s lower bid, and the $12 million in savings it meant for the city.

Of Five Star’s opponents, he said: “They better give me a $12-million reason why we shouldn’t give it to [Five Star].”

In the end, they couldn’t.