Lockheed Tops List of Bidders Seeking Huge County Contract

Lockheed Martin won the highest ranking in the battle for a potential $300 million data-processing county contract that also could heat up a war of words among lobbyists, including a former supervisor and the mayor of Anaheim.

On Tuesday, county supervisors are expected to approve three competing companies to enter negotiations for the huge contract, including Lockheed Martin IMS, San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp., and Systems Management Specialists, a Santa Ana-based corporation recently bought by a British telecommunications company.

Lockheed finished first in the rankings, but any of the three firms could win the lucrative, 10-year contract when final decisions are made in October. More than 60 companies originally expressed an interest in the work.

The contract battle also is noteworthy for its behind-the-scenes jockeying among lobbyists. The bidding has reintroduced former supervisor William G. Steiner into the county’s fold, this time as a lobbyist for Science Applications, which was ranked second, and also Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, who is representing Systems Management.

Lockheed is represented by Randy Smith, considered one of the county’s premier lobbyists.

The county’s overall bidding system is already under board scrutiny because of past problems, including a recent bidding war involving the taxi contract at John Wayne Airport. The airport job was eventually given to a lobbyist who started his own taxi company.

A high-level county staff member said that so far, the lobby war has been “peaceful with little jockeying. But it may change after Tuesday’s [board] vote.”

As mayor, Daly earns $1,000 a month for part-time work. He was a government affairs consultant for four years with a client list that included home builders and computer firms. Before that, Daly was director of government affairs for the Building Industry Assn. for eight years.

“I’ve been in public affairs in one way or another for most of my career,” Daly said. “I think I have a pretty good reputation and obviously my personal integrity is very important to me.”

Steiner, national program director of Childhelp USA, an organization that fights child abuse and is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., retired from the Orange County Board of Supervisors more than a year ago. He did not return repeated telephone calls seeking an interview.

How much influence these and other lobbyists have wielded is uncertain. County officials maintain they followed a clean procurement process that also included oversight by two Grand Jury members.

With a contract worth millions, many believe that an ability to gain access to the offices of the county’s supervisors may result in success.

Chairman Chuck Smith said the five supervisors can make a decision based on “facts, not personalities.”

“I see all these lobbyists all the time and one doesn’t get treated any differently than another,” Smith said. “We weigh it based on the facts presented to us, and the recommendations from staff. Certainly, all of us are big enough not to make a decision based on the personalities of the lobbyists involved.”

Smith and county officials noted that Steiner had waited the required one year after he left office before lobbying. “He’s doing everything within the law, I’m not concerned about it,” Smith said, adding that Daly has a right to have a profession and earn a living, because what “he makes as mayor certainly isn’t a living wage.”

Shirley Grindle, a community activist and author of the county’s campaign finance ordinance, has been an outspoken critic of the role of lobbyists in the county.

“I just don’t want any lobbyists trying to interfere in the system,” she said. “With Daly, I have a real problem with him because he’s an elected official in Orange County, on the [Orange County Transportation Authority] Board and interacts with county supervisors.”

“As for Steiner, why did a company hire him? If these lobbyists say all they do is guide outside companies and it’s above board, why do they need Steiner? What’s his expertise? He didn’t know enough to keep us from bankruptcy.”

But former supervisor Bruce Nestande argued that with so many technology firms hiring lobbyists, it actually has leveled the playing field.

“I understand what the perception could be,” Nestande said. “But if you view this from the company’s standpoint, they’re busy [selling] their product and many are clueless as to how the [county] process works. It’s not illegal to explain a process to a public body and I don’t see anything sinister or unethical about that. These companies need help.”

Nestande said he did not believe anyone on the board would select “an inferior product or company” because of someone who’s been hired by a company.

Bill Mitchell, former Orange County chairman of Common Cause, disagreed.

“Bruce is right in one sense, that these [companies] need someone like a guide for assistance and information, but these lobbyists also sell access and influence,” Mitchell said.