Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Taxpayers hosed by city airport vendor
Contractor hijacked at least $44,000 of hydrant water
Photo of "unrelated vendor" filling water truck from city hydrant
An unidentified city contractor has been tapping fire hydrants for an undetermined but substantial amount of free water over more than a decade at Montgomery Field and Brown Field airports says a December 28 report by city auditor Eduardo Luna.
"On May 4, 2017, the Office of the City Auditor received an anonymous Fraud Hotline report alleging that a City vendor for the City’s two general aviation airports has been using water from City hydrants without paying for several years," per the report.
"Our investigation determined that the allegation was substantiated. It also appears that the vendor may have violated the San Diego Municipal Code section regarding use of water from a City fire hydrant."
According to the document, "the City’s contract with the vendor did not require the vendor to pay for the water and City staff directed the vendor to use the water without a meter for approximately ten years at a potential estimated cost of $44,000."
Adds the report, "However, we note that the water rates have not been constant for the past ten years and there is no way to know how much water was actually used."
Making matters worse, "a new contract, which was out for bid during our investigation, did not address water use, and did not include a reference to the City’s Fire Hydrant Meter Program."
Even after a would-be bidder for the new contract noted the lapses, airport officials failed to change the proposed agreement to deal with water costs and usage, says the report.
"Although a different vendor raised the question at a recent pre-bid conference, Airports Division staff did not provide that information to the Purchasing and Contracting Department to be included as an addendum to the contract."
"As of the date of this Fraud Hotline Report, City staff had not included the water use information in the draft amendment to the contract."
Luna's audit cites a city code section saying, "It is unlawful to use City water from a fire hydrant for purposes other than extinguishing a fire without prior authorization from the Department and installation of a fire hydrant meter, regardless of knowledge or intent.”
Additionally, "Use of water from any fire hydrant without a properly issued and installed fire hydrant meter is theft of City property. Customers who use water for unauthorized purposes or without a City of San Diego issued meter will be prosecuted."
As a result of the auditor's findings, the report says, the Public Utilities Customer Support Division will investigate whether "an Administrative Citation or Administrative Warning is warranted based on the information contained in the confidential version of the report and take the appropriate action."
Officials have also vowed to change the terms of pending contracts to address fire hydrants and water usage payment requirements, with an implementation deadline set for June 30, 2018, according to the report.
"Our investigation determined that the vendor’s prior contract did not contain any reference to the City’s Fire Hydrant Meter Program and did not address payment for water use."
In all, says the report, auditors "made four recommendations to hold the vendor accountable, update City’s policy, recover costs, and include payment for water use in the new contract. City management agreed to implement all four recommendations."
Here's something you might be interested in.
Taxpayers hosed by city airport vendor
Contractor hijacked at least $44,000 of hydrant water
Taxpayers hosed by city airport vendor
Contractor hijacked at least $44,000 of hydrant water
Photo of "unrelated vendor" filling water truck from city hydrant
An unidentified city contractor has been tapping fire hydrants for an undetermined but substantial amount of free water over more than a decade at Montgomery Field and Brown Field airports says a December 28 report by city auditor Eduardo Luna.
"On May 4, 2017, the Office of the City Auditor received an anonymous Fraud Hotline report alleging that a City vendor for the City’s two general aviation airports has been using water from City hydrants without paying for several years," per the report.
"Our investigation determined that the allegation was substantiated. It also appears that the vendor may have violated the San Diego Municipal Code section regarding use of water from a City fire hydrant."
According to the document, "the City’s contract with the vendor did not require the vendor to pay for the water and City staff directed the vendor to use the water without a meter for approximately ten years at a potential estimated cost of $44,000."
Adds the report, "However, we note that the water rates have not been constant for the past ten years and there is no way to know how much water was actually used."
Making matters worse, "a new contract, which was out for bid during our investigation, did not address water use, and did not include a reference to the City’s Fire Hydrant Meter Program."
Even after a would-be bidder for the new contract noted the lapses, airport officials failed to change the proposed agreement to deal with water costs and usage, says the report.
"Although a different vendor raised the question at a recent pre-bid conference, Airports Division staff did not provide that information to the Purchasing and Contracting Department to be included as an addendum to the contract."
"As of the date of this Fraud Hotline Report, City staff had not included the water use information in the draft amendment to the contract."
Luna's audit cites a city code section saying, "It is unlawful to use City water from a fire hydrant for purposes other than extinguishing a fire without prior authorization from the Department and installation of a fire hydrant meter, regardless of knowledge or intent.”
Additionally, "Use of water from any fire hydrant without a properly issued and installed fire hydrant meter is theft of City property. Customers who use water for unauthorized purposes or without a City of San Diego issued meter will be prosecuted."
As a result of the auditor's findings, the report says, the Public Utilities Customer Support Division will investigate whether "an Administrative Citation or Administrative Warning is warranted based on the information contained in the confidential version of the report and take the appropriate action."
Officials have also vowed to change the terms of pending contracts to address fire hydrants and water usage payment requirements, with an implementation deadline set for June 30, 2018, according to the report.
"Our investigation determined that the vendor’s prior contract did not contain any reference to the City’s Fire Hydrant Meter Program and did not address payment for water use."
In all, says the report, auditors "made four recommendations to hold the vendor accountable, update City’s policy, recover costs, and include payment for water use in the new contract. City management agreed to implement all four recommendations."
Comments