Council awards routine LAX contract that became a big deal

It was a big deal because the lobbyist representing one of the losing bidders made a stink about airport officials choosing another firm - and that lobbyist just happened to be dating go-daddy Councilman Dennis Zine. It took a while before Zine fessed up and agreed to recuse himself from the deliberations. This morning, the full council grilled airport folks about why the losing bidder, Tutor Perini, had been dropped from consideration and why the winner, Clark/McCarthy, was so much better. Since the $271-million contract in question was for construction of the airport's central utility plant, none of this made for what you'd call scintillating dialogue. After the LAX honchos explained their decision quite adequately, the council did what should have been done weeks earlier: Approve the damn contract. The vote was 9-4. From the LAT:

Once Tutor Perini failed to make the cut, airport officials found what they described as more troubling issues with their bid. Tutor Perini submitted a proposal with temperature assumptions that were dramatically different from the ones that were required for all the companies that were seeking the work. Tutor Perini's plan assumed that temperatures around LAX were 20 degrees cooler than normal in the summer and 5 degrees warmer in the winter, airport officials said. Those numbers would have made the proposed plant look more energy efficient than it would have been in reality. When the airport opened an investigation into those numbers, Tutor Perini responded with "multiple and contradictory sets of information," [said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports]. Tutor Perini also demanded a hearing, which the airport agreed to hold. But before it took place, the firm withdrew its proposal, Lindsey said.