Commissioners' Filings Don't Show Contributions Troubled Firm Reported

Bob Dunn, Sep 14, 2006

Texas Ethics Commission reports from Florida’s PBS&J, which is under investigation for alleged campaign contribution irregularities, show the giant engineering consultant gave money to political campaigns of Fort Bend County Commissioners Court members 11 times since 2003.

But six of those contributions – which PBS&J claims it made to County Judge Bob Hebert and county commissioners Grady Prestage, Tom Stavinoha and Andy Meyers – don’t show up on the local officials’ campaign contribution reports.

Hebert, Stavinoha and Meyers said Thursday they don’t recall receiving the contributions in question. Prestage couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

PBS&J, a Miami-based consulting engineer with 3,900 employees in 75 offices nationally, including four in the Houston area, is the subject of a federal grand jury probe into whether it reimbursed employees for numerous campaign contributions, in violation of state and federal law.

The company, which has done at least $460,000 in business on Fort Bend County projects over the past three years, filed TEC reports showing it made $6,500 in contributions over the past three years to County Judge Bob Hebert; $4,000 since 2003 to Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers; $3,000 since 2002 to Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage; $1,300 since 2004 to Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Stavinoha; and $250 to Precinct 4 Commissioner James Patterson.

But the county officials’ reports reflect less than half the number of contributions PBS&J told the state it made through its Texas political action committee, PBS&J PAC.

Hebert reported receiving a $2,500 contribution from PBS&J PAC, in March of 2005. But a $1,500 payment PBS&J reported in April 2004, and a $2,500 contribution the company said it made on March 6, 2006, don’t show up on Hebert’s reports.

“Every dollar we receive is reported,” Hebert said of his campaign. “If it comes from a PAC, it’s reported. The checkbook always balances.”

With PBS&J’s claimed contributions not showing up on several commissioners’ filings, Hebert said, “it leads me to wonder what happened to the money?”

Hebert said if it turns out local officials indeed did not receive money PBS&J says it contributed, “I’d probably go to John Healey,” the county district attorney, with the information.

Meyers reported receiving a $1,000 contribution from PBS&J PAC in March of 2005, but his financial reports don’t include a $2,000 contribution PBS&J says it made on March 6, 2006.

“If I got a check from them, they’re on my report,” Meyers said. “If it’s not on my report, I didn’t get a check from them.”

Meyers and Patterson both said consulting engineers are required to submit their qualifications to the county engineering department, which then decides whether they’re professionally qualified to work in Fort Bend County.

Meyers said he authored a policy in 1997, still in use, by which the engineering department determines which engineering or architectural firm is most qualified for a specific contract. Commissioners thus vote either up or down on the recommended firm, without taking part in the process of who wins the recommendation.

According to state law, professional firms such as engineers do not compete based on price, Meyers said.

As for PBS&J, Meyers said he said knows that a man named Glenn Graham heads up PBS&J’s local operations, but said “he hasn’t visited with me.”

Stavinoha did get a visit from Graham. He said his records show Graham “made a committment” to give Stavinoha an $800 contribution, at a February 2006 fundraiser, “but we never got paid.”

“He made a committment, we assigned him a table, and as of about two months later we never got a check from him,” Stavinoha said. In checking his records further, he said he could find no evidence Graham ever wrote a check, either as an individual or on behalf of PBS&J PAC.

However, TEC reports from PBS&J PAC show Stavinoha supposedly received an $800 contribution on March 6, 2006 – the same day on which the company said it contributed to Hebert and Meyers. None of the three commissioners reported receiving such contributions.

Hebert said he recalled PBS&J sponsored a table at a fundraiser he held early this year, but he doesn’t know if they paid for the table. “I just assumed they did,” he added.

PBS&J’s state reports include a $1,000 contribution it says it made to Prestage’s campaign in April of 2003, and another $1,000 in August of 2005, however, Prestage’s campaign finance reports for those periods don’t reflect receiving the money. Prestage could not be reached for comment.

PBS&J records only show one $250 contribution to Patterson, in March of 2005. Patterson’s filings also show that contribution.

“I was not aware that they were being investigated” for their campaign contribution activity, Patterson said, “and I would not have been aware…I don’t do a lot of fundraising.”

Glenn D. Graham, the man Stavinoha said “committed” to an $800 contribution, is one of 19 names that appear as contributors to PBS&J PAC, on Texas Ethics Commission reports from 2003 to 2006. Each of the individuals reported making numerous contributions to the PAC, ranging from $25 to $75.

Graham could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

In a prepared statement PBS&J released to reporters in Florida, it said it encourages employees to support political candidates of their choice, adding ‘’Good people who commit their time and energy to public service and effective policymaking should receive appropriate financial support.’’

On Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported that PBS&J has given more than $500,000 in political contributions since 2003, including both Republicans and Democrats holding offices that could influence the kind of government contracts the company often competes for.

In South Florida, where it’s headquartered, PBS&J’s contributions were focused on Broward County, the Herald reported. The firm’s political action committee has given to majorities on both the Broward County Commission and the Hollywood City Commission, including Broward Mayor Ben Graber and Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti, the newspaper said.

The investigation into PBS&J’s campaign contributions came as a result of an earlier investigation – into a $36 million embezzlement scheme allegedly hatched by the company’s chief financial officer, Scott DeLoach, and two subordinates.

According to a report in the Engineering News-Record, the company spent much of the past few months repaying 12 to 15 state departments of transportation for reimbursed overhead expenses from 2000 to 2005 that were inflated, as part of the embezzlement scheme.

One of those state departments was the Texas Department of Transportation, which suspended PBS&J from bidding for Texas contracts in May. PBS&J, which did $43 million in business in Texas in 2005, agreed to a settlement by which it paid TxDOT $5.3 million. In return, TxDOT dropped all claims against it and, in July, allowed the company to begin competing for contracts again.

Hebert said most engineering firms bill for their work based on a scale that “everyone tends to adhere to.” However, in less common instances, some engineering firms might charge for their work “based on a multiple of their costs and overhead.”

Because PBS&J was found to be inflating its rate for overhead on state projects, Hebert said he intends to have the county purchasing agent and auditor check to see how the Florida company is being paid for work in Fort Bend County.

“It’s an interesting question,” Hebert said, “and a question we need to follow through on.”