Halliburton, Jr.
Two of the three firms convicted of bribery in the Jefferson County sewer scandal are still working for the county, and it may be more expensive to find others to finish the work than to keep them on to finish the jobs.
F.W. Dougherty Engineering & Associates and Roland Pugh Construction are completing a total of 12 county contracts that date back to 1996, according to records.
The county is weighing whether to suspend the two contractors from current county work and hire other companies.
“The knee-jerk reaction is we need to get them off the project and fire both of them and bring somebody else in to finish the work. We can do that, but there may be additional costs if that’s done,” said Gary White, the commissioner who oversees the Sewer Department.
The two companies were found guilty in connection with giving a former Jefferson County commissioner materials in exchange for contracts to work on the sewer rehabilitation and expansion program.
The Dougherty group has not only been paying bribes, but has also been accused of mistakes in design calculations at a wastewater treatment pumping station that failed last year.
Hmmm. Sounds a lot like Halliburton to me. Sure, they overcharge, do substandard work, and do business with countries that are supposed to be our enemies, but we can’t find anyone else to do the job, so we just keep handing them more no-bid contracts. Makes sense to me.
April 26th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Nothing much changes … does it?
April 26th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Nope. It’s depressing.