Zine seeks advice on dating from City Attorney

City councilman Dennis Zine declined to talk about the controversy over his dating a lobbyist for Tutor-Perini, but he did ask the City Attorney whether he should recuse himself from an upcoming key vote involving the firm. Tutor-Perini Corp lost its bid for a $271.5-million contract to build a new heating and cooling system at LAX. The company disputed the decision — and Zine made a move at the City Council to bring up discussion of why Tutor-Perini lost the contract. From Art Marroquin in the Daily Breeze:

The council was poised last Friday to award the construction contract to Clark McCarthy Joint Venture when Zine asked that it be set aside for discussion.

During the meeting, Zine asked why Tutor-Perini was not awarded the contract, even though the company claimed to be able to build the airport's new utility plant for $30 million less than Clark McCarthy.

Airport officials explained that Tutor-Perini was knocked out of the competition after the company submitted a plan that would not have complied with the temperature ranges that were required at LAX.

The City Attorney's Office had already rejected a protest filed during the summer by Tutor-Perini executives, who claimed that airport officials did not follow their own rules when considering the bids.

Jimmy Blackman, Zine's chief of staff, asked for the reporter to submit questions via email, and then didn't answer how long the councilman and Veronica Becerra have been dating and whether they talked about the Tutor-Perini issue before the council meeting.