A whistleblower investigation from the Washington State Auditor’s Office has determined staff at Clark College violated state law on two facilities projects by not putting the projects up for public bidding.
On Aug. 18, the office released its report on the investigation. The office found former Clark College Director of Facilities Services Tim Petta “grossly mismanaged his responsibilities by instructing staff to procure projects in ways that violated state law.”
The complaint from the whistleblower, who was not identified in the report, focused on two projects the college’s maintenance staff performed “in-house” though their costs were greater than the limit which requires public bidding. The auditor’s office verified Clark College didn’t comply with the requirements, and “found reasonable cause to believe an improper governmental action occurred,” the report stated.
State law requires projects that cost more than $90,000 to be publicly bid out, the report stated. Clark College did not have delegated authority to manage the projects.
Emails obtained by the auditor’s office showed Petta worked with the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) to request a design proposal from the college’s on-call architect. The report stated colleges are expected to work with a DES project manager once project funding is approved.
That proposal totaled $126,400, which was “significantly higher than what (Petta) and DES expected,” the report stated. Though the auditor’s office was unable to find a response from Petta to DES on how to proceed, he told the office he likely told DES that the college would handle the work in-house.
Petta told the auditor’s office he didn’t ask the architect for a proposal on the second project because he thought the estimate would be similarly high, the report stated. Both projects were remodels of offices at the college.
In an interview with the office, Petta acknowledged both projects didn’t comply with state law. He said he moved forward on both “to make the best use of public money for the taxpayers and (Clark) College,” the report stated.
In a response included in the report, Clark College stated its management has increased oversight of facilities services so the college’s public works projects above the cost limit comply with state law.
Petta resigned from his position on Aug. 12, according to the college’s response. He started in his position at Clark College in 2013. The college stated his replacement will receive training on capital and public works procurement requirements.
A spokesperson for the college declined to comment further on the violations.
