Kill the URS deal

THE SWEETHEART DEAL between the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and URS Corp. is still alive – although growing evidence shows that the engineering firm (owned in part by Richard Blum, husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein) had an unfair inside track on a $4 million contract that could lead to further work on a project valued at close to $150 million.

As we reported May 21, URS was poised to win the contract for preliminary work on the reconstruction of the Calaveras Dam. But the firm had an inside track: it helped write the scope of work – then submitted a bid that closely adhered to that outline. Now, as Matthew Hirsch reports on page 12, the whole deal turns out to be even sleazier: URS also had a $748,000 deal with the Department of Public Works for work on the Calaveras project – and that information apparently was not provided to other bidders on the SFPUC contract.

This is just the latest indication of the way politically connected firms get the inside line on contracts under Mayor Willie Brown's administration – and it stinks. The SFPUC needs to reject the URS deal, rebid this contract, and give the public some glimmer of hope that the entire reconstruction of the Hetch Hetchy water project won't be a cesspool of sleaze.