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Schools

School word of the day: Change

In the wake of questions about its land deals, the Hillsborough school system embraces new brokerage services.

By MELANIE AVE
Published April 28, 2006

TAMPA - For years, Hillsborough County school officials used private brokers to find land for schools and a private planning firm to decide if that land was a good place to build campuses.

The nation's ninth-largest school system paid them millions of dollars even though the work was awarded without competitive bidding - a violation of the district's own policies.

But now, after the St. Petersburg Times detailed the district's good-old-boy way of handling land deals, the School Board is about to spread much of that work around.

"We're looking at things in a different way and involving other firms," said board member Susan Valdes. "That's a step."

On Tuesday, the School Board will be asked to award contracts to seven real estate companies that submitted proposals for brokerage services. Only one of the companies, Brandon Kilgore Real Estate of Brandon, has previously worked for the district.

And school superintendent MaryEllen Elia is recommending the board hire four planning firms to help evaluate potential school sites. That would end the monopoly held by WilsonMiller, a Naples development company that worked for the district as a planner while representing two private clients who were trying to sell the district land.

The district advertised for real estate and planning services in March and notified 1,900 vendors they could submit proposals.

"We had to get more formal . . . and more transparent," said board member Candy Olson. "It's not only that we do it well but also that people see it as well."

The 189,000-student district's old way of buying land was problematic. The Times investigation found that several of its hand-picked real estate brokers had arrest records and bankruptcies. The investigation detailed numerous instances where brokers negotiated in their own interests instead of protecting taxpayers.

The only broker without problems, Kilgore owner J. Leland Byrd, said he wants to keep helping the district find land in an ever-tightening real estate market.

"They're honest people," Byrd said of school officials. "They have cash. They're good buyers."

The other real estate companies being considered for contracts are American Acquisition Group, Absolute Investment & Realty Services, Equis Corp., Exit Realty Consultants, Florida Acquisition & Appraisal and Hicks Real Estate Brokerage and Investments.

Missing from the list is broker Fred Edmister, who played a role in flipping property to the school district for Middleton High School in East Tampa. That incident has been referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for investigation.

Edmister has told the Times he benefited from two land trusts that bought five properties that were sold to the district for a 340-percent markup.

Buddy Gissendanner, Edmister's criminal defense attorney, said Thursday his client denies any wrongdoing and would like to work for the district again.

"(But) until this whole thing is settled and goes away, he doesn't feel he would get any work anyway," Gissendanner said.

In addition to the wider field of brokers, Elia is recommending the board hire four planning firms and enter into three-year contracts with each to help evaluate potential school sites.

If approved, the district would continue working with WilsonMiller, its long-standing planning company. But the duties would now be split with three newcomers.

The other firms being recommended are Powell, Fragala & Associates of Lakeland, and Tindale-Oliver & Associates and TBE Group, both in Tampa.

Since 1998, the district has paid WilsonMiller at least $2.2-million through a contract that had no dollar limit, no end date and did not outline specific projects. The work was never advertised so others could bid.

A Times story showed how WilsonMiller worked for the district as a planner while representing two private clients trying to sell the district land. Both times the district paid the company's clients thousands more than the appraised value of the property.

District purchasing manager Willie Campbell said a committee reviewed each of the proposals. It ranked TBE first for its plan, cost, experience and responsiveness. The company has done previous civil engineering work for the district but has never had a piece of the larger planning duties.

"It's always good for purchasing agents to have more than one source," said Bob Brown, senior vice president with TBE. He said the company regularly reviews potential conflicts of interest between clients and, when necessary, will pass on work.

District administrators will have to negotiate contracts and prices with the seven real estate companies. They have not worked out how the firms will be paid.

In the past, the district paid brokers a 3 percent commission of the total purchase price, an unusual practice for a government agency. Other Florida school districts pay brokers a flat finders fee or ask them to negotiate commissions with the sellers. The goal is to avoid conflicts of interest or price inflation.

Campbell said the district is trying to move away from paying commissions, but would not rule them out.

W. Jeffrey Cotter, owner of Absolute Investment, said he is unsure how it will work but is happy the district opened the process.

"I was aware a couple of brokers did the work in the past," he said. "I just felt like that was their sacred ground. I respected their relationship and didn't go after the work."

And now?

"It's a brand new day in Tampa Bay," he said.

Melanie Ave can be reached at 813 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 28, 2006, 01:27:58]