Tighter port deals, city lawyers advise

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31 Jul 2008

The Jacksonville Port Authority needs to change the way it awards contracts after a "then-flawed management structure" and other problems led to deals being improperly made, City Hall attorneys said in a report issued Wednesday. Chief Deputy General Counsel Cindy Laquidara said there were flaws in both the procurement process and in how the rules were followed. Her report came in the wake of an FBI investigation into former port board member Tony Nelson and contracts at the port. No one should be able to override the port's procurement department, Laquidara said, "regardless of someone's position in the JPA."
She said she did not name individuals in order to not interfere with the FBI investigation. Instead, she and two other city attorneys identified structural inefficiencies and errors at the port.
Since the FBI subpoenaed port executives in April, Nelson has resigned, as had Ron Baker, who was chief financial officer and deputy executive director of the port. Executive Director Rick Ferrin, who has received the strong support of the board, said Wednesday night he was reviewing the report and would talk today about specific steps the organization would take in response.
The city General Counsel's Office reviewed the port's procurement practices at the request of its board. That request was made days after the FBI raided the offices of companies related to Nelson as well as two companies that had received no-bid contracts from the port.
Laquidara used one of those companies - Rham Construction, which shares an address with two of Nelson's companies in Northwest Jacksonville - as an example of mistakes that were made. Rham was hired by Baker to oversee construction at the port's $220 million terminal after months of suggestion by Nelson, according to e-mails and other documents.
Among mistakes Laquidara cites are:
- The lack of involvement of the port's Small and Emerging Business office, which would have reviewed and denied the contract.
- Contract modifications that did not follow the port's procurement code.
- The lack of approval of contracts by legal counsel.
The five-page report provides direction for the port to fix the situation, board Chairman Dick Morales said Wednesday evening.
"This is what we wanted," he said. "We wanted the Office of General Counsel to look through our procedures and recommend changes to comply with not only the port's policies and procedures but also the city's."
Among the suggestions were reorganizing job responsibilities and the chain of command - some parts of which have already been modified recently - and reiterating that irregularities should be brought to the attention of the executive director.
"It is important that staff have an avenue to pursue in which they can identify procurement failures without risk of retribution," Laqidara wrote.

Source: Jacks Onville