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DAVID KARPTampa's Iorio orders a reorganization after she learns a banned construction company is still getting business.
TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio ordered a shakeup Friday of the city's housing department after learning that a construction company she had banned from doing city business simply changed its name and kept getting contracts.
She began by delivering a jolt to the housing official who awarded contracts to the company. Kim Norquist was moved - effective immediately - to the wastewater department.
Iorio also ordered that a plan to reorganize the department be prepared within 30 days.
She said it "will likely" mean eliminating jobs or reclassifying positions to give her more oversight. Other managers besides Norquist could be moved. The city will also review how it awards contracts and how it provides low-cost housing for the poor.
City officials have been ordered to review what other action to take against Norquist, who makes about $80,000 a year overseeing work on low-cost homes.
Iorio took the action Friday within hours of learning that city officials - without her knowledge - had awarded at least $87,000 in contracts to a company that is essentially the same business as Ryan Construction.
That's the company that built a luxury house in South Tampa for former housing chief Steve LaBrake. Company president Dean Ryan and LaBrake were indicted in November on charges of bribery. Prosecutors say Ryan paid bribes to get city business.
On the day of the indictment, Iorio pledged that taxpayers would never do business with Ryan again.
But only a month later, the company was essentially back in business with the city. Ryan Construction changed its name and its president. Ryan's grandson replaced him as the company's top officer.
The new company - named CTB Home Builder - got its first contract without facing any competitive bids, records show.
Ryan still works for the company as a "consultant," his grandson, Chris Schnitzler, said in an interview Friday.
Ryan is working at the company because he must keep a job as he awaits trial, Schnitzler said. He said his grandfather, 65, who had been planning to retire, drives equipment trailers to construction sites, works with crews and makes estimates on noncity projects. Ryan's role in the company is "minute," he said.
"There is no Ryan Construction," he said.
But the newly named company is still paying Ryan Construction's debts, Schnitzler acknowledged. "We have the same creditors," he said.
They also have the same business address - and the same federal employer identification number. That means that the IRS considers Ryan Construction and CTB Home Builders the same entity.
In some official records, the companies appear identical. For instance, the city awarded CTB Home Builders a $55,280 contract to build a house in Sulphur Springs. But the company filed a notice of commencement at the County Courthouse on Jan. 16 that says Ryan Construction is doing the work.
Iorio said Friday she sees little meaningful difference between the two companies. She ordered the city attorney to create procedures to stop the city from doing business with executives and companies charged with wrongdoing. The rules would cover companies that change their name or create "alter egos."
Ryan's grandson said he would fight the move.
"I do not know what her problem would be," Schnitzler said of Iorio. "I did everything they asked me to do. Legally, we did not have to do anything."
Schnitzler has not been charged with a crime.
He said the company depends on government work to pay its bills. Once, he said, he passed out hundreds of fliers to expand his private business, but the handbills produced only one customer. The company doesn't have money for advertising or overhead, he said.
The slowdown in city work, Ryan's criminal charges and the death of Ryan's wife damaged the business, he said.
"The company was drained dry," Schnitzler said.
"We are not going anywhere," he said. "We are not leaving the city."
At City Hall on Friday, Iorio's senior staff called housing managers in for explanations. They wanted to know why Norquist and others had not informed the mayor, the city attorney and economic development administrator Mark Huey about the contracts.
Records show the company has been awarded at least $87,000 in contracts so far. Norquist approved nine other contracts totaling $208,372, but the paperwork is not final on those yet.
One of those approved contracts was to rebuild a house for a widow living on Social Security in Sulphur Springs.
Before his indictment, Ryan had won the job in the summer of 2003, competing against one other company. On Nov. 12, the city moved the widow out of the house and put her in temporary housing.
Then, on Nov. 20, Ryan was indicted. For a month, the widow sat in her apartment, waiting for construction to be completed. Taxpayers paid her rent, $650.
After Ryan's indictment, Norquist did not seek new bids for the project, records show. He didn't turn to the other company that wanted the job originally either. That company's bid was $5,300 higher.
While Norquist waited, Ryan's company changed its name, and he stepped aside as president. Then, under the new name, the company assumed the job. The first permit was pulled in early January.
Norquist and Ryan go back years. In 1991, when Norquist was a city official awarding contracts, he hired Ryan to help build an addition to his Davis Islands house. On a day's notice, Ryan sent over a crew of four or five laborers to work overtime for two days. Norquist said he paid $500.
On Thursday, Norquist spoke warmly of Ryan, saying he felt sympathy for him. "I am a compassionate person," Norquist said.
He noted Thursday that Ryan had not had his day in court yet, and he also said he has spoken with Ryan on the phone in the past few months. He said they were brief, personal conversations to basically ask: How are you doing?
Friday, Norquist denied to supervisors that he had expressed "compassion" for Ryan on Thursday, Huey said.
Huey began pulling files and questioning the staff about the Ryan contracts Friday. "It's pretty embarrassing," said Huey, who is the top official in the department and learned about the contracts late Thursday night.
Huey said he expected to make more personnel changes.
"It wasn't necessarily just (Norquist), but some others in the chain of command that did not exercise the right professional judgment," he said.
- Times staff writer David Karp can be reached at 813 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com