Consultants' 'peculiar' contract raises eyebrows

The consultant has enjoyed a lack of competition for much of its work. Some officials sense a whiff of unfairness, others say this situation is unique.

By LISA GREENE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 19, 2002

Two years ago, the engineering firm Jones, Edmunds & Associates competed to win $141,000 in Pinellas County business -- with the promise of more down the line.

So far, that promise has paid off.

The firm has been awarded $621,000 more to study how Pinellas County should handle upcoming chemical changes to the water it buys. Tonight, the firm could win $339,000 more if commissioners amend its original contract a third time.

All these extras have come without the firm having to compete against other companies. And there's more: If commissioners decide to build a $100-million water plant to handle the new water, the firm could be awarded $15-million worth of engineering work.

Without facing competition.

Now, 21 months after the firm secured the lucrative contract, questions are cropping up. Can a company provide unbiased advice on whether to build a project that could bring the company millions?

"It's easy to become self-serving," said Commissioner Karen Seel. "Can you honestly be as pure in your analysis as you should be?"

Michael Strully, vice president with Jones, Edmunds, said the firm would never bend the truth. He also defended the contract extensions, saying the county benefits from using one firm that understands its water needs.

"Why do you use the same tax accountant every year?" he said. "Why do you go to the same doctor? Because he knows your body, and what you're like when you're sick and when you're well. When you come in with a problem, he can diagnose it."

There's one more wrinkle that makes the contract, which county utilities director Pick Talley acknowledged is "peculiar," even more unusual.

Talley and Robert Edmunds, the firm's executive vice president, were college roommates for one semester in 1960, and Talley worked with Edmunds for two years in the mid 1980s.

Commissioners said Monday evening that the relationship was not a problem because a committee composed mostly of employees outside of Talley's department recommended Jones, Edmunds. One, though, wished Talley had disclosed his history with the firm.

"I would have erred on the side of caution and made it a matter of record," said Commissioner Bob Stewart.

But Stewart said he is more concerned about the contract itself.

"You can't be making recommendations for jobs you know you're going to be locked into," he said.

If commissioners decide to build the plant, the county needs to invite other engineering firms to compete, Seel said.

By repeatedly amending the contract, commissioners risk spending so much money that they will feel pressured to approve building the plant, said Stewart and Commissioner Calvin Harris.

Keeping the same company makes business sense, said Commissioner Susan Latvala.

"It's a very unusual set of circumstances, and to go back to bid each time we change the direction we're going in, just delays it even longer," she said.

Commissioner Ken Welch also supports the approach. "As long as each (amendment) is justified, I wouldn't have a whole lot of heartburn about it."

Steve Spratt, who became county administrator in December, said he quizzed Talley about the contract. The county may need to bid out some work eventually, he said, but so far, Talley is right.

"You don't have to pay someone to do the same learning again," he said.

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