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Audit shows agency's disarray

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published December 1, 2006

TAMPA - For much of the past three months, a politically connected lobbyist named John Beck has played a key role in a series of controversies that has dogged Hillsborough County's toll road agency.

In a preliminary report, the state Auditor General's office is recommending that the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority end Beck's seven-year run as lobbyist and consultant, a stint in which he became one of the agency's most powerful officials as it planned to embark on two ambitious road projects.

The report said the agency never had the authority to pay Beck and three other lobbyists more than $1.2-million since 2001 and should immediately end its relationship with them.

That conclusion was one of 13 findings by the Auditor General's office, which launched a two-month investigation into the Expressway Authority amid allegations of misconduct.

The long-awaited report, released late Wednesday, depicts an agency in disarray.

It contends the agency's governing board erred when it sought to replace Ralph Mervine, who resigned as the agency's executive director Nov. 8 after it was learned he owned a gay porn production company.

On Nov. 20, the seven-member board voted to appoint Jim Drapp "temporary interim executive director" to oversee the agency's day-to-day activities. But the report said it was a clear conflict of interest since he was vice president of a company that had a contract with the agency.

Between Jan. 10 and Sept. 30, the authority paid Drapp's company $4.7-million. Florida law prohibits an agency from hiring an employee who works for a company under contract with it, and the report said Drapp's new status as interim chief should be clarified.

In a third finding, the 13-page report found that the board "negated" any "evidence of impartiality" when it voted to fire the agency's legal counsel, Steve Anderson, because board members didn't discuss why they were overturning a committee recommendation to rehire Anderson.

That 5-2 vote Aug. 28 was the opening act in a political saga with no apparent end. The five board members who approved the firing of Anderson were appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush. They voted with no discussion to replace Anderson with a firm, Gray Robinson, with strong ties to Bush.

When it was learned Beck and Mervine had met with Gray Robinson partners before the vote, Anderson supporters, including board member Tom Scott, demanded an investigation.

A weeklong inquiry by Bush's general counsel, Raquel Rodriguez, found no laws were broken, but did say there was enough appearance of impropriety to warrant another investigation.

In addition to the Auditor General's subsequent investigation, the FBI has asked questions as well. The scope of that inquiry is uncertain because the FBI won't comment.

Other findings in the Auditor General report were:

- No pay ranges or officially adopted job descriptions existed for the agency's 11 full-time employees and one part-timer. Recordkeeping was shoddy, with 11 of 12 personnel files missing employment applications.

- Nine employees received pay raises between 8 and 14 percent last year, but adequate reasons for the bumps in pay were not provided.

- The board approved $3.5-million in contracts since 2001, including the amount paid Beck and Anderson, without a cost-benefit analysis.

The agency has 30 days to respond before the Auditor General's office issues its final report. The agency's interim legal counsel, Rhea Law, said in a Thursday statement that she was "pleased to find that many of the items found in the Auditor General's report have been addressed or are currently being addressed."

Law said she will give a brief report to the agency board Monday.

Scott said he was mostly impressed by the report, calling it a "thorough audit" that left him "vindicated and pleased."

But he was disappointed it made no mention of other issues raised in recent weeks by the St. Petersburg Times, such as a series of phone calls Mervine made to five board members on the weekend before the Aug. 28 vote and Mervine's ties to a construction firm paid $400,000 by the agency after he was hired.

"Those issues still need to be addressed," Scott said. "I'm surprised the report didn't address these issues because the records exist."

Mervine did not return phone calls and did not appear to be at his Mulberry home Thursday. But in a Wednesday night interview with the Tampa Tribune, he denied recent allegations of a conflict.

He told the Tribune he didn't know how much the agency had paid Driggers Construction Inc., an Auburndale firm that until late 2004 had been using Mervine's general contracting license.

His comments contradicted a URS consultant, Bill McDaniel, who told the Times last week that Mervine regularly attended meetings where those payments were discussed.

Staff writer S.I. Rosenbaum contributed to this story. Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 1, 2006, 00:53:17]