Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/92622
Sarasota News Leader November 9, 2012 Effective May 7, the audit says, the contrac- tor stopped performing under the agreement and was formally notified of termination of the contract on May 11, effective May 14. Among its findings, the audit cited a blurring of lines of responsibility among county staff for overseeing the contract compliance; work orders for additional services that were ap- proved by county staff without any formal amendment to the contract; waiving of re-in- spection fees for a period without any amend- ment to the contract; and documents submit- ted by the contractor that "were inconsistent, inaccurate, and did not provide adequate in- formation on the work performed." The document says one of the auditors inter- viewed Jim Oppy in the Field Services office on Oct. 12, noting that Oppy "was part of the team that put the bid documents together …" It adds, "This was a fairly large contract that was mainly overseen at a high level by Jim Harriott and Dave Cash." Harriott was head of the Public Works Department until Reid promoted him to chief county engineer during the summer. Regarding one of the au- ditor's interviews with Harriott on Oct. 11, the document says, "Mr. Har- riott stated that manage- ment of the contract re- mained with Dave Cash and Jim Oppy." During an auditor's inter- view with Cash on Oct. 5, Commissioner Joe Barbetta works on material before a budget workshop in August. Photo by Norman Schimmel Page 40 the document says Cash "stated that before the contract was awarded, Terry Lewis, for- mer Interim County Administrator, told Dave Cash he would be 'joined at the hip' to Jim Harriott." It adds that Cash had told Oppy "to take a step back because the day-to-day operations were under Jim Harriott," though it notes Cash said he "felt responsible for the contract and stayed involved." Further, the document says Cash told the au- ditor "there were no written directives out- lining who is responsible for what aspects of managing contract compliance." It notes Cash said that on April 6, executives with Bloomings "admitted that they under- bid." Cash said he told them any extra ser- vice proposals would have to be submitted in writing; then, the county would determine whether those services could be purchased or done in-house. Bloomings continued to mow through April and to complain about financial hardship, Cash added. When Bloomings execu- tives later sought county agreement to a reduced workload and higher compensation, the audit says, "The County reject- ed this proposal." Bloomings stopped work on May 5.