LAX Contracts Not Getting Enough Bids, Officials Want to Know Why

LOS ANGELES, CA - City Controller Ron Galperin called on airport officials this week to look into why more than half of the $593 million in contracts for goods and services awarded in the 2014-15 fiscal year received just one or two bids.

Los Angeles World Airports, which operates city-owned airports including Los Angeles International Airport, awarded nearly 60 percent of its procurement contract dollars after receiving just one or two bids, according to findings from the latest Industrial, Economic and Administrative Survey conducted by KH Consulting Group for the controller's office.

The city has a goal of soliciting at least three bids per contract, but 30 percent of requests received one bid, while 28 percent drew two bids, according to the audit.

Examples of the contracts include the purchase of goods such as runway lights, maintenance-related services and minor construction jobs, some valued at around $150,000 or more, according to the auditors.

Galperin said the airport agency "must scrutinize and reform its bidding process."

"Otherwise, we have no way of knowing whether we are getting the best value for our money -- which is what the competitive bidding process was created to ensure," he said.

Auditors acknowledged that in some cases, there are not enough qualified bidders, but said the procurement process needs to be further studied to find out what could be done to drive up the number of bidders to make the process more competitive.

Galperin also said he was concerned LAWA might not be doing enough to address traffic congestion that is expected to result from major construction projects being planned for LAX, including the addition of a people-mover and rental car facility.

The upgrades, expected to be completed by 2023, are part of a larger $8.5 billion modernization plan and would result in the demolition of parking structures, the closure of lanes, and construction vehicles needed to share space with cars driven by airport passengers.

"Traffic will get worse before it gets better," Galperin said. "And any goodwill we've engendered with passengers will quickly go away if LAWA doesn't adequately address the traffic and parking problems that its large- scale construction projects are going to create."

Auditors recommended that LAWA put together a traffic engineering team that will focus its efforts on resolving traffic headaches at the airport, modeling it after an existing unit that manages traffic flow at New York airports.

LAWA Executive Director Deborah Flint responded that the audit's recommendations, some of which have already been implemented, offer a "blueprint" for how the airport agency should proceed.

"We are placing more emphasis on performance metrics across the organization which will provide a path for an improved guest experience at Los Angeles International Airport," Flint said.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock