Consultant Gets to Skip Disclosure

Irvine officials are questioning why a county manager allowed the consultant planning an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base to be paid more than $8 million so far without submitting the monthly progress reports required in its contract.

The reports by P&D; Consultants of Orange were to include a summary of work and each task performed, and were required to be filed before the county paid the monthly invoices, according to the July 1997 contract signed by then-Board of Supervisors Chairman William G. Steiner and P&D.;

In January 1998, Bruce B. Wetsel, then manager of the county’s El Toro aviation team, sent a letter to P&D; waiving the monthly reports. Wetsel, who has since left the county, said the reports weren’t necessary because “the county and P&D; are in contact on a daily basis.”

Irvine officials said the invoices are inadequate to verify expenses for the largest public works project in Orange County. The city is fighting the county’s plans to build an airport at the base, a small part of which is within city limits.

“This is unbelievable,” Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea said. “It is the fiduciary responsibility of the Board of Supervisors and the CEO [county executive officer] to have oversight over their financial expenditures. To do that, you have to have documentation.”

There is no way to know, for example, if improper expenses for such things as public advocacy--which is forbidden by law--were buried within the invoices, said Glendale attorney Kenneth S. Morrison, who discovered the waiver while reviewing public records obtained for Irvine.

However, receipts for such things as parking fees and lunches were attached to the invoices, he said.

“They had more documentation for a petty reimbursable than what in some cases were million-dollar invoices,” Morrison said.

County airport officials dismissed Irvine’s concerns and said there is ample justification for the expenses without detailing them in monthly reports. Most of P&D;’s work involves 38 specific documents and other “deliverables” identified in the contract that easily can be tracked, said Alan Murphy, who took over for Wetsel.

“We have been scrutinizing this [contract] very closely,” said Murphy, who also is assistant director at John Wayne Airport. “The fact that we’re working with these people on a daily basis, we have a clear understanding of what’s being done.”

El Toro project manager Michael Lapin said Irvine’s implications of lax accounting “just don’t fly.”

“They’re trying to create an atmosphere of suspicion and inappropriateness, [but] there’s no risk to the county,” he said. “We don’t pay until the [product] is there.”

The contract, which originally was for nearly $7 million, has been amended 19 times and is now about $9.1 million.

P&D; has been submitting invoices with lump-sum amounts under 11 categories, including “planning parameters,” “environmental issues,” “project management” and “other coordination.” Each category notes the percentage of work completed.

Of the total, about $1.1 million is for project management and coordination.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who opposes the new airport, said the lack of detailed reports by P&D; is another example of the county’s pattern of secrecy when it comes to planning the new airport.

Spitzer and Supervisor Tom Wilson, who comprise the five-member board’s anti-airport minority, repeatedly have complained about their inability to obtain information about planning and expenses for El Toro. Earlier this month, a coalition of eight anti-airport cities filed a lawsuit against the county, contending they have been denied public documents.

“Their worst nightmare is public scrutiny over their actions,” Spitzer said of pro-airport county officials.

He said he will ask his colleagues to reestablish the requirement for monthly progress reports in P&D;’s contract.

“We can’t have staff members waiving the board’s oversight,” he said. “You can’t require county supervisors to institute oversight on public finances and then run your contracts without public scrutiny. That’s why people don’t trust county government.”

The agreement calls for P&D; to complete an airport system master plan, including integrating changes to John Wayne Airport as well as planning an El Toro airport. The work started in July 1997.

A separate environmental impact report, which has been delayed six months, is being completed by a second consultant, LSA Associates.

On Tuesday, the pro-airport majority on the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a $271,000 contract with public affairs consultants Burston Marsteller to launch a public-education campaign once the environmental report is released. The campaign will run from January through June, Lapin said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

PLANNING FOR EL TORO

In July 1997, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to pay P&D; Consultants in Orange $6,995,175 to plan a new commercial airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Since then, the contract has been changed or amended 19 times, bringing the total to $9,114,800--a 30% increase. The company has sent the county invoices every month. Below are the bills:

TOTAL PAID: $8,428,055.72

CONTRACT ADJUSTMENTS

There have been multiple adjustments to P&D;’s original contract since 1997. Cumulative changes of more than 10% of the original contract--or $699,517--required approval by the Board of Supervisors. Below are the dates of change orders and amendments that increased the total contract:

*--*

Date Change order Increase New total July 22, 1997 Contract signed --- $6,995,175 Feb. 18, 1999 1-4 $152,984 $7,148,159 April 21, 1999 5 32,690 7,180,849 April 6, 1999 6 14,580 7,195,429 June 23, 1999 7,8 43,561 7,238,990 April 27, 1999 Amendment A 686,226 7,925,216 April 27, 1999 Amendment B 679,327 8,604,543 April 27, 1999 Amendment C 298,153 8,902,696 June 23, 1999 9-14 150,569 9,053,265 Oct. 1, 1999 15,16 61,535 9,114,800

*--*

Additional adjustments not yet paid: $215,667

Source: County of Orange