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Expressway bid raises hackles

A Hillsborough commissioner wants the governor to intervene and wants changes in board duties.

By BILL VARIAN and MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published August 31, 2006

TAMPA - Hillsborough County Commissioner Tom Scott wants the governor's office to investigate the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority's handling of bids for a new outside legal counsel.

Scott, who sits on the Expressway Authority, said he will urge the County Commission to call upon the governor to intervene when it meets Sept. 7.

He also intends to ask the commission for a symbolic vote of no-confidence in the authority.

"It's going to cost me in terms of support and contributions to his current political campaign," Scott said. "But you know what? Right is right and wrong is wrong."

Scott's request will be considered once it arrives, said governor's spokeswoman Kristy Campbell.

"If we were to receive the request, we would review it," Campbell said.

Scott is running against incumbent Commissioner Mark Sharpe in a countywide race.

Scott said he also will ask the Expressway Authority to seek new bids for the contract for legal services in light of the fact that the agency's executive director had dinner, just days before the vote, with a representative of the law firm that was awarded the bid.

Finally, he will ask the Expressway Authority to change the makeup of the committee that reviews bids and recommends who should be awarded contracts, in part to remove executive director Ralph Mervine from the process.

Scott wants to have the County Commission chairman and Tampa City Council vice chairman replace Mervine and a member of the authority board on the review committee. That would allow Mervine to meet with bidders without letting him influence the selection.

The Expressway Authority voted earlier this year to seek bids for its outside legal counsel rather than extend the contract of its current firm, Ruden McClosky. The authority board voted 5-2 Monday to give the work to Gray Robinson, even though the review committee ranked the firm as the second-best choice, and ranked Ruden McClosky first.

Mervine had dinner with Gray Robinson lawyer David Hendrix on Aug. 23, two days before the review committee did its evaluation. Mervine did not meet with representatives of any of the other law firms. He has said he tried to meet with them all, but never heard back from them.

Scott and authority legal affairs director Mary Hall both say the dinner violated bidding rules. Scott, Hall and Mervine all sit on the review committee.

The authority's lobbyist John Beck also met with Gray Robinson earlier this year to discuss their bid. He did so at the direction of authority board member Bob Clark Jr.

It was Clark who made the motion to ignore the review committee recommendations and hire Gray Robinson over other, higher-ranked firms.

Clark has sparred in the past with Steve Anderson, the Ruden McClosky lawyer who currently handles the authority's legal work. Anderson has raised ethical concerns about Clark's company, Tampa Steel Erecting Co., selling $366,000 worth of girders used in construction of the elevated lanes of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway just before he was appointed to the board.

Authority board chairman J. Thomas Gibbs has said he might have Mervine investigate the bid process.

"How can Ralph do an investigation?" Scott asked. "That's a conflict."

At one point Gibbs considered asking the state Department of Transportation to investigate the way the bidding had been handled.

But DOT spokesman Dick Kane said Wednesday the agency's head, Denver Stutler Jr., has decided not to intervene.

DOT has some say over the Expressway Authority's finances because it has loaned the agency millions of dollars. But Gibbs and Stutler talked Wednesday, and the authority's chairman assured him that changes would be made so that an independent review would not be necessary, Kane said.

"(Stutler) applauds Gibbs on his leadership," Kane said. "He is satisfied that this is something the Expressway Authority will handle."

In September, an Expressway Authority committee is expected to vote on a policy that sets out restrictions on contact between those at the agency and firms bidding for work.

The authority's policy now bars bidders from contacting board members, but is unclear on whether the opposite is true, that board members or members of the review committee are prohibited from reaching out to bidders.

The proposed change would clarify the bidding rules, Hall said.

Meanwhile, Hall has advised Mervine to avoid contact with Beck, someone he typically deals with daily, while she and Mervine investigate whether a board member instructed Beck to discuss the bid with Gray Robinson. Hall said it will take about a week to review invoices and interview Beck.

Mervine, who is handling media inquiries since the Expressway Authority spokeswoman quit Monday, said he hopes the investigation will satisfy any public concern.

"We have to find a way to restore trust in this agency," Mervine said. "It's paramount."

Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (813) 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 31, 2006, 01:29:47]