Hall Monitor

Questions snag URS contract: Amid doubts raised by the Bay Guardian and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, about whether URS Corp. had an unfair advantage in seeking a major contract for engineering work on the Calaveras Dam (see "Familiarity Breeds Contempt," 5/21/03), the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission May 27 delayed action on awarding the contract.

Commissioners questioned SFPUC staff extensively on URS's consulting role in preparing the contract on which it bid and urged staff to clarify that the contract is only for to determining what needs to be done at the site, not for the entire $150 million construction project. Yet SFPUC president Dennis Normandy indicated that URS – which a panel selected as top bidder – would still get the contract when the board reconvenes June 10. Commission officials stand by the selection because the City Attorney's Office said that it is legally defensible and that URS's involvement was public knowledge.

Since the SFPUC meeting, the Bay Guardian has obtained a copy of a $748,000 contract for URS to manage planning services for the Department of Public Works that may not have been accessible to URS's competitors, further fueling concerns that URS's insider role gave it an advantage.

"They knew they wanted URS from the get-go, based on the evidence trail here," IFPTE representative Vitus Leung said. During public discussion on the proposed contract, Leung called on SFPUC commissioners to delay their authorization and immediately investigate the situation from the beginning.

SFPUC representatives did not return calls by press time. URS spokesperson Judith Lillard declined to comment for this story. (Matthew Hirsch)

Greenbook ordered to open books: The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force ruled May 27 against the Greenbook Initiative Project for failing to assist Daisy Buel with her request for its budget expenditures. The task force ordered Greenbook directors to compile its budgetary records and turn them over to Buel immediately.

Buel, who volunteers for Greenbook, had requested the expense accounts because of concerns that project administrators were mismanaging funds. Greenbook operates on $350,000 annually to assist battered women and their children.

"We want to make sure that money goes to domestic violence victims," Buel said. In response to her request, Buel received financial status reports that the Department of Human Services, which administers the project, submits to the federal government. Janice Anderson-Santos, a deputy director at the DHS, said the city agency records expenditures but doesn't compile them in one document.

In another case, the task force dismissed a complaint from library activist Peter Warfield, who alleged the Library Commission violated the Sunshine Ordinance by not providing a meaningful description of an item on its Feb. 20 meeting agenda. Warfield claimed the agenda withheld significant facts about funding for the Richmond District branch library expansion and renovation.

In calling for the dismissal, commission member David Parker told Warfield to be more selective with his sunshine complaints. Warfield responded that the task force was allowing the Library Commission to sidestep the open-government principles of the Sunshine Ordinance.