Board Suspends Construction Contracts with Seville, BCA

Exactly one week after San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced indictments against four members of the Sweetwater Union High School District and a construction executive, the Southwestern College governing board suspended all construction contracts with Pasadena-based Seville Construction Services and San Jose-based architecture firm Bunton Clifford Associates (BCA). Among the five indicted was Henry Amigable, who until December 2010 was Seville’s SWC project manager overseeing Proposition R construction. Total value of the contracts is $59 million.

Board president Norma Hernandez announced that the board decided to “…take all steps necessary to immediately suspend existing construction contracts with Seville Construction Services and BCA Architects.”
Dr. Melinda Nish, SWC’s new superintendent/president, issued a statement the next day on behalf of Hernandez.

“The board’s action was based on the district’s ongoing internal review and the San Diego County District Attorney’s investigation,” read the statement. “The board’s action was deemed to be the most appropriate and responsible decision to take at this time.”



Humberto Peraza, governing board vice president, said he could not go into detail about a closed session issue, but acknowledged that the board has been busy.

“I can’t discuss what the plan is,” he said, “but obviously we’re looking at a lot of different options.”

Board members have every intention of being transparent, Peraza said.

“We’re going to be as open as we can,” he said. “Once our own internal investigation is done, the public will see it. I think everyone will have a little better understanding. We are adamant about giving out as much information as we can give out.”

Hernandez agreed.

“The suspension is a fact,” she said. “But this is a legal issue and so we want to make sure that whatever steps we take in the future are well thought out and made in a responsible manner.”

Seville’s Amigable negotiated all construction and project contracts with SWC’s Nicholas Alioto, the former vice president of business and finance, and John Wilson, the college’s former facilities director. All three were served search warrants on December 20, 2011 by police and agents of the D.A.’s office who raided their homes and removed computers, files, cell phones and documents. Current and former Sweetwater trustees Pearl Quiñones, Arlie Ricasa and Greg Sandoval also had their homes raided.

Ricasa, Sandoval, Quiñones and Amigable were all indicted on Jan. 4 and arraigned on Jan. 13.

Amigable, Wilson and Alioto formed a trio informally called “the administrative team” whose duties included overseeing the $389 million Proposition R construction projects. Following Wilson’s retirement, Alioto’s resignation and Amigable’s termination, a new management team was in place by March 2011 consisting of Bob Temple, SWC’s interim vice president of business and finance, John Brown, the college’s new facilities director, and Seville’s Bob DeLiso, who had recently overseen Seville projects on Los Angeles Community College District campuses, subjects of a six-part Los Angeles Times series in March 2011 about construction overspending and mismanagement entitled “Billions to Spend.”

In September 2011, the current administrative team recommended terminating its construction management contract with Escondido-based Echo Pacific Construction for convenience. Echo Pacific was hired by Wilson and Alioto in 2010.

Temple is overseeing the board-ordered internal review into Prop R contracts and the non-profit Southwestern College Educational Foundation. During a special governing board meeting on Jan. 4, the board announced that it would begin sharing the findings with the D.A.’s office immediately and would release the report to the public when the review was complete. No timeline was given.

Repeated calls to Seville’s San Diego office were not returned, but the company released a statement on Jan. 13 that read, “We are deeply disappointed with Southwestern College District’s decision. We believe SCS has operated and acted in good faith throughout our relationship with the district, including the termination of an employee a year ago for inappropriate actions that included violation of our corporate code of conduct. We believe the independent actions of individuals previously involved in the program are negatively affecting both organizations and the community.”

According to evidence gathered by the D.A.’s office, the terminated employee was Amigable. Seville replaced Amigable with DeLiso, who remained project manager until this month’s suspension.

Amigable left Seville at the end of 2010, but accepted a job on the SWC campus as construction manager for Echo Pacific, where he oversaw Proposition AA work, including the new Time Out Café. Echo Pacific continues to employ Amigable, but he is on leave. Echo Pacific did not return phone calls.

Echo Pacific’s president Chris Rowe owns the guest house in Poway where Alioto now lives. It was searched on Dec. 20 by police and district attorney officers. Alioto’s Chula Vista home was foreclosed in July 2011.

BCA, the architect, was originally hired in April 2010 to design the buildings and elements that would make up the $55 million corner lot project, the most visible part of Prop R construction. Alioto increased the contract to $59 million, allegedly without the governing board’s approval.

A representative of BCA said the firm had no plans to release a public statement at this time and had no comment.

Amigable has a well-documented history with BCA’s chief executive officer, Paul Bunton. From November 23 – 25, 2009, Bunton took Amigable, Alioto and Steve Breakfield, the director of facilities and planning at Stockton Unified School District, to Pebble Beach near Monterey for a golfing vacation. On November 26, Bunton sent Amigable an email asking for Alioto’s contact information. Amigable wrote, “Don’t worry I will help you there. You just need to figure out my BD commission for when you get this gig. Naked chick for a year sounds good…”

A later email from Bunton to Amigable regarded Alioto.

“I’m going to continue to stay in front of him and am planning on bringing some sketches each time I meet with him to try and narrow down on the design of the corner lot with him,” Bunton wrote. “I get the impression if I can find the design that he wants, while I stay before him and entertain him constantly, that we’ll get the deal. Giddy-up.”

Bunton, Amigable and Breakfield have known each other for some years. In 2005 the three men were part of a golf foursome at the A.G. Spanos California Open in Stockton, along with actor Jamie Farr of “M*A*S*H.” At the time, Amigable was employed by Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc. Both Barnhart and BCA provided construction services to Stockton Unified.

From 2007 to 2009, the San Joachin County Grand Jury investigated Stockton Unified for numerous issues, including questionable contracts and how consultants were hired.

In 2010 Alioto returned to the golf links, contractors in tow. At the SWC Educational Foundation “Havana Nights” gala that March, Echo Pacific won a Napa Valley trip for a $15,000 silent auction bid. On June 25, Echo Pacific’s Rowe joined Alioto in Napa for golf and wine tasting, along with Bunton and Amigable.

Three weeks later, on July 14, the SWC board approved a $4 million contract with Echo Pacific to provide construction management for the corner lot. Alioto recommended the firm.

It was similar to the governing board meeting of April 21, 2010 when the board approved a contract with BCA to design the corner lot, also based on a recommendation by Alioto.

One month after awarding Echo Pacific its contract, the board approved a deal with Barnhart Balfour Beatty to provide construction management for the new main campus field house and other projects. Barnhart Balfour Beatty was created by a merger of Balfour Beatty Construction and Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc., Amigable’s former employer.

After a new SWC governing board majority took over in December 2010 things changed. On October 12, 2011, after terminating Echo Pacific, the board opened negotiations with the company, now called simply Balfour Beatty, to take over Echo Pacific’s role. Following the successful completion of the Time Out Café in December 2011, Amigable appeared to have left the SWC campus for the final time.

With contracts suspended, work on the corner lot and the entire Prop R construction project is again delayed. Hernandez said that the board is working hard to study its options and move the project forward.

“We directed staff to come back to us with an idea as to what the implications are of this suspension, the delays and how we could address minimizing the delays,” she said.

Peraza said that things were already moving fast.

“There are a lot of details being figured out right now,” he said. “Bob Temple is on this and I trust we’ll have some answers and actions by the board in the coming weeks. We’re willing to meet every week if we have to.”


Story at the Sun.