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Sherrill Whittemore approved 29
of Steve Berg's invoices.
According
to a BOEC memo, Berg had developed similar software for
Clark County, Wash. Gary Bevans, now BOEC's principal management
analyst, worked with Berg
to develop the Clark County software.
Berg
charged BOEC $65 an hour for his work, less than half the
going rate for Windows NT consultants, according to BOEC's
Paul Stein.
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It turns out that possible overtime and telecommuting abuses
aren't the only problems at the city's 911 center.
Documents obtained by WW show that officials at
the city's Bureau of Emergency Communications have been
violating the spirit--and possibly the letter--of city contracting
regulations.
Problems at BOEC, which triages all Multnomah County 911
calls, surfaced Nov. 5 when city auditors said they were
looking into allegations of payroll and overtime fraud,
based upon a complaint by a BOEC employee.
Last week, auditors confirmed to WW that they also
are looking into potential irregularities relating to BOEC's
relationship with a computer company--an arrangement that
went on for two years with the full knowledge and authorization
of BOEC Director Sherrill Whittemore.
City records show that between June 1997 and September
1999 BOEC paid Vancouver, Wash., computer consultant Steve
Berg $88,225 for two software projects aimed at tracking
the bureau's budget and expenditures.
No one says that Berg Enterprises has provided BOEC with
bad services. Instead, auditors are looking into the process
by which he got the job.
Although the city code regulating bureau expenditures is
often a wall of confusion, it's quite clear when it comes
to hiring a professional and technical consultant such as
Berg.
If a consultant's fee is less than $19,296 for a project,
then a bureau can put the project out to an informal bid.
In practice, this means calling three consultants to find
out how much they would charge.
Anything over $19,296 requires a formal bidding process
with newspaper ads, sealed bids and council approval of
the contract. The process is designed to guard against sweetheart
deals and ensure that the city gets the best work at the
best price.
BOEC spent $25,480 for one project and $62,745 for the
other, well above the cap for informal bids and in both
cases without a contract.
Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who first requested the audit,
was unavailable for comment, as was Whittemore, who is on
personal leave until Dec. 13.
Paul Stein, BOEC's administrative-services director, told
WW the bureau followed proper procedures.
But City Auditor Gary Blackmer, while declining to comment
on details of the BOEC audit, did tell WW that the
payments to Berg "do not appear to be in compliance with
city purchasing rules."
A review of the invoices indicates that BOEC may have tried
to get under the $19,296 cap by using dozens of purchase
orders rather than a contract. City bureaus are allowed
to issue so-called "limited purchase orders" for goods and
services under $5,000, which allows them to obtain goods
on a one-time basis without having to run the gauntlet of
bids and other paperwork.
But city purchasing rules do not allow "LPOs," as they're
known, to be issued for professional and technical services,
says Darin Matthews, procurement division manager for the
city.
In addition, eight of the invoices Berg submitted for the
purchase orders are for amounts just under the $5,000 threshold--something
that several city officials said should have sounded the
alarm with BOEC.
"The accounting people should have noticed it at the bureau
level," says Toni Anderson, a deputy city auditor. Project
managers, too, should have known the scope of the project
and applied city contracting rules appropriately, she says.
Mayor Vera Katz will probably take a dim view of a city
bureau appearing to skirt contracting procedures. During
her first mayoral campaign in 1992, she hammered away at
similar practices within the city that were revealed by
a WW investigation ("The 10,000 Club," Sept. 24,
1992). As mayor, she has implemented safeguards that are
aimed at preventing the type of no-contract business that
BOEC has been conducting with Berg.
Even worse, the contracting irregularities may be the least
of the bureau's worries. Three auditors are currently looking
into everything from rug looms at the 911 center to allegations
that some BOEC employees ran personal businesses on the
public's dime.
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