College Files Suit Against Contractors

*By Nickolas Furr and Mary York


Citing legal questions, monetary compensation and issues of principle, the Southwestern College Governing Board voted unanimously to file lawsuits against three California construction and architecture firms that had been awarded contracts from the college during the administration of former Superintendent Raj K. Chopra. Following charges of bribery and corruption by the San Diego County District Attorney, the college severed ties with the firms, and none of them have worked on campus since January.

A board statement said litigation would “include challenges to the procurement of contracts related to the Corner Lot project,” and the conduct of the firms that were involved: Seville Construction Services (SCS), Echo Pacific Construction and architects Bunton Clifford Associates (BCA).

The $55 million project, the showpiece of SWC’s $389 million Proposition R construction bond, has been a lightning rod of controversy since its groundbreaking ceremony in October 2010. In the year and a half since then, no actual construction has occurred on the seven-acre lot. The empty parcel of bare ground has continued to garner unwanted attention from the citizens of South Bay, the media and the district attorney.

Building Contracts Canceled

Photo: Christopher Martinez

Two weeks after Southwestern College’s governing board suspended all contracts with Seville Construction Services and Bunton Clifford Associates (BCA), the board terminated its relationships with the two construction firms involved in a pay-for-play controversy that has so far led to 26 felony indictments of South Bay education officials. Following a closed-door session on January 25, Governing Board President Norma Hernandez made the announcement to the public.

“The board took action … to sever the contractual relationships with Seville Construction Services and BCA architects, reserving all rights of the college,” she said.

In response, Seville released a statement that read, “Seville Construction Services and Southwestern Community College District representatives are working toward a mutual solution to dissolve a contractual relationship. We believe SCS has operated and acted in good faith throughout our relationship with the district. The independent actions of individuals previously involved with the program, including a former employee who was terminated a year ago for inappropriate actions that included violation of our corporate code of conduct, are negatively affecting both organizations and the community. It is important to note that the former employee is facing criminal charges for alleged actions while employed elsewhere, not SCS, on an unrelated project, not the college district.”

Unions Seek Corner Lot PLA

Governing Board President Tim Nader’s recent statement that there is little chance he would sign a union-favoring Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the first phase of Proposition R construction has pro-labor activists crying foul. But pro-business advocates said they are also feeling unsatisfied with the process.

With Phase I construction on the $389 million Prop R project planned for early next year and no signed labor contracts in place, union representatives and workers tried recently to convince Nader and the rest of the board that there is still time to sign a PLA that would go into effect immediately. Union members said the agreement would benefit the college, community and construction workers of the district.

But none of that may matter. Governing board members insist that construction management contracts already in place would make agreeing to a new PLA difficult, at least for Phase I of the five-phase project.

Management contracts oversee money, while construction contracts oversee the hiring of subcontractors and workers. Former Vice President of Fiscal Services Nicholas Alioto signed management contracts with Seville Construction Services for project management. The former governing board approved. Echo Pacific Construction was hired by Alioto to handle construction contracts, but the current board terminated Echo Pacific’s contract this fall. Balfour Beatty has been approached by the college about assuming Echo Pacific’s terminated contract and assuming responsibility for construction and labor. No contract has been approved.

Board Fires Corner Lot Construction Firm

One year ago this week, donning pressed suits and ill-fitting construction hard hats, the previous Southwestern College Governing Board broke ground to celebrate the start of construction on the $389 million Proposition R project on the infamous “corner lot.” A seven-acre dirt and gravel field on Chula Vista’s busiest intersection, the lot has remained empty for five decades. In the 12 months since then, the only meaningful activity on the property was seasonal vendors selling pumpkins in October and Christmas trees in December.

Pumpkin Patch: the only work being done / Photo: Serina Duarte

With the pumpkin patch up and running again this year, the current governing board unknowing marked the anniversary of the groundbreaking by firing Escondido-based Echo Pacific Construction, the firm contracted to provide construction management for most of the Prop R project. Echo Pacific, however, continued on as if it was business as usual.

SWC Director of Facilities John Brown confirmed the board action to fire Echo Pacific. The firm would continue to be part of the Proposition AA project, he said, but the board was already seeking its replacement for Prop R work.

“A recommendation was made at the October 12, 2011 governing board meeting by staff to open negotiations with the number two ranked firm, Balfour Beatty [formerly known as Barnhart Balfour Beatty],” Brown said.

Delays, Controversy Again Stagger Corner Lot Project

For 50 years, the 2.6 acre patch at the northeast of Southwestern College has laid fallow, a vestige from the lima bean and horse ranch it once was. For the past decade it has become a killing field for SWC administrators and board members who get too wrapped in the often murky worlds of construction, politics and money.

And still the land sits empty as a new set of players settles in to try to make sense of the stalled project that led to so much upheaval at SWC last year.

Pasadena-based Seville Construction Services, chosen by a previous SWC administration and board to manage an ambitious new incarnation of the highly-visible “corner lot,” has pushed back the start date several times. Seville has become entangled in governing board politics, SWC contract troubles, love affairs, investigations, and was caught playing a personnel shell game as detailed in a Los Angeles Times investigative series.

In October 2009, Seville was awarded a $2.7 million contract – or 2.7 percent of the initial $100 million Phase I project costs – to provide program management and as-needed construction management services for the college’s Proposition R construction, projects funded by a voter-approved $389 million construction and modernization bond in 2008. Projected to be spread out over 23 years and five phases, the Prop. R work would be largest college building project in about 35 years. Of the $100 million slated for Phase I, the corner lot project was budgeted at $74 million.

Board Orders New Audit on Contracts, SWC Foundation

Originally published on 4/14/11...

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