By Savannah Blackwell

Angry supervisors are likely to question Pat Martel, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, at a Feb. 13 Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee hearing, after she indicated that the city should extend its much criticized contract with Bechtel Infrastructure Corp.

On Jan. 30, Martel told the San Francisco Independent she wanted to maintain the SFPUC's $45 million contract with Bechtel to help manage the massive overhaul of the city's more than 150-mile-long drinking-water delivery system. The project is expected to cost more than $4.5 billion.

"It's not in the PUC or the public's interest to [get rid of Bechtel]," Martel told the Bay Guardian. She added that she has the support of the SFPUC's board of directors.

Her comments prompted an angry reaction from several supervisors who believe Bechtel has wasted city funds. Indeed, the Bay Guardian determined that of the $8 million the city had paid Bechtel – and several other private companies (working under the name San Francisco Water Alliance) by mid September – nearly $5 million funded unnecessary work. In addition, the company attempted to charge – and in some instances got away with it – the city for tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses, including travel (see "Bechtel's $45 Million Screw Job," 9/12/01).

"I am really, really angry," Finance Committee chair Sup. Aaron Peskin said. "A few short months ago she stood in front of us and admitted the truth, which is that the PUC and Bechtel are a bad fit. It's still a bad fit, and it should be phased out."

Last November supervisors agreed to pay $3 million of the $7 million set aside in the 2001-02 budget to give Martel six months to come up with a plan for handling the reconstruction project mostly with in-house staffers (see "Bye Bye Bechtel," 11/07/02).

"The idea was to create the capability to do the project in-house," said David Novogrodsky, who heads International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21. "We will oppose this move by Martel. Bechtel was supposed to be phased out."

Martel told us she solved the problems that the contract raised. She added that the SFPUC wants voters to approve a $4.6 billion bond measure in the November election to pay for the overhaul, so there's not enough time to hire staff to handle the project in-house. "We're getting considerable work and the expertise we need out of [Bechtel]," she said.

But at the board's Feb. 4 meeting, president Tom Ammiano made it clear he wanted the reconstruction job handled by city workers. He instructed Martel to hasten the hiring of qualified engineers, introduced legislation that would help the SFPUC finance the reconstruction project, and said he had no confidence that a private consultant would do the job better than the city.

E-mail Savannah Blackwell at savannah@sfbg.com.