The Board of Supervisors listened during the public comment
portion of Tuesday’s meeting to Autoworks owner Don Kelley testify
reasons he believes the county should revoke a vehicle maintenance
contract with San Benito Tire.
Afterward, a hired private attorney
– not the head administrator, counsel or supervisors –
reiterated to Kelley the county’s position: The Board will not
consider terminating the contract as an agenda item.
The Board of Supervisors listened during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting to Autoworks owner Don Kelley testify reasons he believes the county should revoke a vehicle maintenance contract with San Benito Tire.
Afterward, a hired private attorney – not the head administrator, counsel or supervisors – reiterated to Kelley the county’s position: The Board will not consider terminating the contract as an agenda item.
On Tuesday after the meeting, Kelley remained hopeful supervisors might reconsider placing such an item on the Nov. 4 Board agenda.
“I got the feeling that some of the things I brought up (to the Board) – it was news to them,” Kelley said after the meeting.
William Owen, a lawyer from the Sacramento firm hired by the county, attributed the Board’s refusal to litigation currently pending on the matter. Kelley’s attorney Michael Pekin also represents an anonymous group called Los Valientes, which recently joined a legal fight involving the county and other parties over the Growth Control Initiative on the March ballot.
Allegations about the vehicle maintenance contract are among Los Valientes’ many claims of corruption in county government. The assertions stem from a private investigation and its lengthy resulting report, of which supervisors received a copy last week.
With a court hearing scheduled for today at 10 a.m. on the Growth Control Initiative suit, county officials advised supervisors against commenting on Kelley’s arguments.
“If you’re going to ask me anything about that, you’ll have to talk to Bill (Owen). He’s here for that reason,” said Supervisor Bob Cruz, who sat in for the absent chairman, Supervisor Richard Scagliotti.
One of the six accounts from the investigative report alleges wrongdoing by Scagliotti in August 2002, when the county awarded the most recent maintenance contract. The claim is that a business relationship between Scagliotti and shop owner Bob Cain should have precluded the supervisor from taking an active role in hiring San Benito Tire.
Pekin, who also spoke to the Board on Tuesday, pointed out Scagliotti’s alleged intention of building a property in Hollister to rent space to Cain that would have housed San Benito Tire.
“And none of you (supervisors) knew that it was Mr. Scagliotti who was going to take the tenancy of this maintenance onto his own personal property,” Pekin said.
Furthermore, and the crux of Kelley’s argument, he claims the work conducted by San Benito Tire during its previous one-year contract term was severely negligent.
Kelley worked on the county Sheriff’s 22 cars during an interim period between the two contracts. On Tuesday, in recalling his work on the fleet, Kelley specified some of the alleged problems – including worn steering components, worn tires, nonfunctional emergency lights, lacking tune-ups, bent wheels and faulty transmissions.
“The thing that is most disturbing,” Kelley said, “is that nothing has been done to remedy this situation or to protect the county or the officers whose lives depend on these vehicles.”
While he was working on those cars, Kelley reportedly engaged three Sheriff’s employees to witness the allegedly defunct parts being taken off vehicles. For several months, the Sheriff’s Department stored some of those parts for potential use as evidence, according to the report and confirmed by Sheriff’s Officer Genene Proffitt last week.
But San Benito Tire, Proffitt pointed out, never had the opportunity to see the parts. They were eventually disposed at the landfill because, she said, “We were going through a cleaning out period through here.”
Sheriff Curtis Hill was not in attendance Tuesday, nor were Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Covell, Sgt. Scott Becker or Proffitt – the three officers who reportedly handled the parts.
“Yet, let me ask,” Pekin said while addressing the Board, before calling out: “Sgt. Becker? Lt. Covell? Officer Proffitt? The Sheriff’s Department doesn’t produce a single person to discuss this issue in public.”
With Scagliotti absent and Cain also not in attendance Tuesday, Pekin said after the meeting: “We’re dealing with a blank sheet.” Cain and Hill, meanwhile, declined comment.
“I’m not making any comments to you guys,” Hill said. “You have to talk to the County Administrative Office. It’s not my contract.”
After the meeting, Owen said the county would continually recommend the Board not place anything on the agenda to consider revoking the contract. Plus, if the matter had not been included in pending litigation, and a Supervisor agendized the item, Owen said, the Board would have to give San Benito Tire an opportunity to defend itself.
“The county can’t just ‘willy nilly’ revoke the contract just because somebody else who would like the contract makes some charges,” Owen said.
The county can, however, terminate the vehicle maintenance contract with 30 days notice – with or without cause, according to a press statement recently issued by the county.
Kelley is advocating the county revoke the contract and temporarily allow him to perform the maintenance work until a re-bid can occur.
When Hollister Tire and Battery owner Celerino Lopez found out about the controversy Tuesday, he said he would like the contract, too. Lopez was actually the lowest bidder – $54,800 compared to Cain’s $59,300 – of four local businesses for the contract.
“For some reason, they gave it to San Benito Tire. I don’t know why,” Lopez said. “I would like to have it – why not?”
