Official leery of restoring D.C. firm

A road-paving company’s conspiracy to bribe D.C. engineers and inspectors struck “at the heart of the integrity” of efforts to improve roadways in the District, according to the city’s top transportation official.

D.C. Department of Transportation Director Dan Tangherlini made the comments in a letter, which was obtained by The Washington Times yesterday.

Mr. Tangherlini cautioned D.C. Council member Harold Brazil in the July 23 letter, six weeks before the latter introduced a measure to allow the city to do business again with the D.C.-based Fort Myer Construction Corp.

One of the metropolitan area’s largest street-construction firms, Fort Myer pleaded guilty in federal court in March to conspiring to bribe nine D.C. public works engineers and inspectors in 1997 and 1998 in exchange for overstating the amount of asphalt being delivered to the city.

Mr. Tangherlini said in the letter that his department takes no position on whether Fort Myer should be allowed to bid for D.C. road-paving projects. But he also issued words of caution.

“We believe that the actions for which former [public works] staff and the Fort Myer Corporation have been prosecuted strike at the heart of the integrity of our program and have had long term ill effects on our reputation,” Mr. Tangherlini wrote.

Mr. Brazil, at-large Democrat, sponsored legislation on Sept. 16 that seeks to overturn a three-year suspension against Fort Myer. The suspension prevents the company from competing for city contracts, worth tens of millions of dollars.

Under the Debarment Procedures Temporary Amendment Act of 2000, a panel of D.C. government executives would reconsider suspensions and debarments against several contractors, including “a business division whose predominant work is the production and placement of street asphalt.”

Officials say Fort Myer won’t be awarded any new city contracts until the panel rules on the company’s eligibility.

Tony Bullock, spokesman for D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, said his boss had no comment on the effort to restore Fort Myer’s eligibility. “We’ll reserve our judgment until we have a chance to review the final action by council,” Mr. Bullock said yesterday. The council is expected to vote on the legislation on second reading today.

The D.C. Office of Contracting and Procurement banned Fort Myer in April from doing business with the District after the company’s guilty plea. The company also remains suspended from doing business with the federal government until December next year, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Mr. Brazil said he sponsored the legislation because the District’s suspension against Fort Myer was “overly harsh” and transportation and public works officials never got a chance to discuss the action.

Mr. Brazil, who accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from the company in May, said politics had played no part in his decision to sponsor the bill. He said Fort Myer is a good employer and that officials who were implicated in the scandal no longer work there.

Council members Kathleen Patterson, Ward 3 Democrat, and Carol Schwartz, at-large Republican, opposed the measure.

Story Continues →