Suit Accuses Caltrans Chief of Helping Allies

Embattled Caltrans Director Jose Medina, already in political trouble for his handling of Orange County toll road issues, was accused in a lawsuit Tuesday of steering a state parking contract to a pro-union company that did not submit the winning bid.

The lawsuit alleges that Medina, a former San Francisco County supervisor with strong labor ties, used his position to snatch a $3.9-million contract away from the nonunion company that already had been declared the best bidder and awarded it to the runner-up, whose workers were Teamsters union members.

The allegations are expected to increase pressure on Gov. Gray Davis to remove Medina, whose yearlong reign as head of one of the state’s most powerful agencies has been marred by controversy.

Medina, one of Davis’ first major appointments, came into office with strong political backing from San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, a staunch Davis supporter, and from unions that had contributed heavily to the governor’s campaign.

But his scant knowledge of transportation issues annoyed many lawmakers and a decision to back away from plans to enlarge the Riverside Freeway sparked a storm of protest in Riverside County.

On Tuesday, Medina, who has steadfastly refused to speak publicly about any of the matters in which his administration has become embroiled, issued a statement saying that “the allegation of any impropriety by me or [Caltrans] in this matter is false and not based on any facts.”

Michael Bustamante, Davis’ press secretary, said the governor’s office would look into the latest allegations but any action is unlikely as long as a lawsuit is pending.

The governor has no immediate plans to remove Medina from his post, Bustamante said. “From the first day, Jose’s marching orders were to do the best job possible at Caltrans and those continue to be his marching orders,” he said.

The latest allegations against Medina were raised by attorneys for CarPark Management Corp., a San Francisco-based company. It complained that in an unprecedented move, the Caltrans director had intervened in a contract matter that affected his political allies in San Francisco.

The issue involved a two-year lease to operate the Transbay Parking Facility in San Francisco. The 900-space parking facility is owned by Caltrans but leased to private operators.

In late 1999, when the facility’s lease came up for renewal, Caltrans sought bids from parking companies. CarPark was one of many firms that submitted a proposal.

Steve Kottmeier, an attorney for CarPark, said that on Dec. 2 the company’s owner, Minesh Mehta, was notified by Caltrans that it had won the bidding competition and would be awarded the contract to operate the facility.

He said Mehta was asked to make a security deposit and pay $327,000 in advance rent, both of which he did. On Dec. 13, he said Caltrans officials advised Mehta that he had satisfied all the conditions of the lease and provided him with two copies to sign.

But on Dec. 31, just hours before the lease was to take effect, Kottmeier said, Caltrans informed Mehta “that the lease was being pulled from CarPark and . . . was instead being awarded to Priority Parking.”

When Mehta sought an explanation, Kottmeier said, local Caltrans officials told him that the decision had been made in Sacramento by Medina. Kottmeier noted that Mehta’s company is nonunion while Priority Parking employs union labor.

In his statement, Medina said Caltrans had exercised its right to award the contract to the second bidder because of “very serious allegations raised against the apparent high bidder.” He did not say who had raised the allegations or what they were.

Mark I. Gleason, vice president of Teamsters Union, Local 665, confirmed that his organization had complained to Caltrans about improprieties involving the agency’s San Francisco leased properties, but he would not say if those complaints had been directed at CarPark. Nor would he say if union representatives had met with Medina.

He said the union had information that on some properties workers were being paid in cash to evade payroll taxes, and parking revenue was not being properly reported so companies could bypass the city’s 25% parking tax.

“We applaud Jose Medina and the staff of Caltrans for focusing their concerns on these properties which they ultimately control,” Gleason said. He declined to say whether the union had asked Medina to intervene in the contract issue. Even if the union had made such a request, he said, it would not have prompted Caltrans to award the contract to another bidder. “To be honest with you, I don’t think we have enough influence to do that, frankly,” Gleason said.

The president of Priority Parking declined to comment, saying that his company was “a tenant of Caltrans.”

Administrators familiar with state contract laws, however, said it is highly unusual for the director of Caltrans to intervene in a local contract matter and to reverse a contract decision made by staff.

They said it also was unusual to act on allegations that have not been investigated.

Medina’s latest troubles follow a turbulent first year in office in which he was forced to cope with a series of contentious issues, some of which he inherited from the Wilson administration.

Late in 1999, his agency was criticized for mistakes made in routing oversized trucks in the state, including one error that resulted in the death of a Westminster man who was traveling in a 15-foot-high truck that slammed into a 14-foot, 10-inch-high overpass.

In October, Medina drew heat in Orange County for approving the sale of private toll lanes to NewTrac, an Irvine-based nonprofit business (the sale never went through). The toll lanes , the only such private road in the state, run alongside 10 miles of the Riverside Freeway’s median from the Riverside/Orange County border to the Costa Mesa Freeway.

Medina also backed away from a plan to add lanes to the congested Riverside Freeway when he agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the current owners of the toll lanes, California Private Transportation Co. The lawsuit contended that the addition of the lanes would violate a clause in their contract with Caltrans that prevents the agency from taking any action that would reduce toll road traffic.

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Times staff writer Megan Garvey in Orange County contributed to this story.

* CALTRANS ACCUSED

Orange County toll road operators have accused Caltrans of fabricating safety data to justify a project. B7