The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Situation slipped by BOCC but protections in place for conflicts of interest
By Mark Reaman
A contract awarded by Gunnison County commissioners to a business owned in part by a senior Gunnison County staff member drew some scrutiny last week. County officials said that while the situation was not ideal, the county is dealing with the same issues as many private companies and individuals: there is a shortage of reliable workers and businesses. But even so, Gunnison County manager Matthew Birnie said the situation should have been more transparent and clear and he took responsibility for how it was handled.
On Tuesday, September 2 the commissioners approved a $168,000 landscaping contract for the Sawtooth 2 affordable housing development to Gunny Bear Ventures Inc. which does business as Alpine Landscaping. Alpine Landscaping is owned by Mark and Melissa LaMonica. Melissa is the Gunnison County chief financial officer and executive director of the Gunnison Valley Housing Authority which is winding down its duties and will be absorbed by the county by the end of the year.
The contract was part of the September 2 consent agenda that commissioners approved without comment. Unless an item is removed from a consent agenda there is no public discussion on matters listed on that part of the meeting agenda. The Crested Butte News sent an email to the three county commissioners and county administration about the unusual situation given potential perceptions of a conflict of interest. The commissioners said they were not aware of the connection between one of their senior staff and the business awarded the contract. Birnie responded that the situation would normally have been at least briefly discussed at the public meeting but given some timing issues, it slipped through the cracks.
Birnie said it started when the landscaper on the project basically went silent. In early August, the original landscaping contractor for Sawtooth stopped communicating with the county about the project. “It was imperative that the landscaping be finished this season because our residents are living in Sawtooth 2 under a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO),” he explained. “The original TCO deadline was August 30. Fortunately, the City of Gunnison granted us a two-month extension, but the Certificate of Occupancy cannot be issued until the landscaping is complete.”
Birnie went on vacation in late August and asked staff to reach out to four landscaping companies to complete the work. He said two companies did not respond at all, and one was not able to complete the work until next year.
“Alpine Landscaping was available to bid the work and could complete it this fall so we could meet the TCO deadline,” he said this week. “Staff worked with our attorney’s office to ensure compliance with state statutes and county policy and to put protocols into place that would recuse Melissa LaMonica from reviewing or approving contracts or invoices for the work.”
As is protocol under county practices, the agreement was reviewed by the legal department where assistant county attorney Sammy Obaid signed off and discharged the contract, the county manager’s office where assistant manager Martin Schmidt signed off and discharged the agreement, and the finance department where the agreement was discharged without a name. Birnie said assistant county manager John Cattles was aware of the potential appearance of a conflict and brought the attorney’s office into the discussion. He was also the one that ensured the budget was adequate for the contract and had it passed through the review process.
The county conflict of interest policy in its employee handbook states that, “It shall be a conflict of interest for a County employee or a member of the employee’s family to have a personal financial interest in any business transaction with or involving the County, unless such transaction is unrelated to the employee’s position and job responsibilities and does not involve the department or office in which the employee works. In the event of such a conflict, the employee shall immediately disclose the financial interest to the appropriate Assistant County Manager, elected official, department director or to the County Manager and refrain from engaging in any conduct that could influence or be perceived to influence any County decisions regarding the transaction in which the employee or a member of the employee’s family has a financial interest.”
Birnie said the commissioners had no knowledge that Gunny Bear Ventures had any relationship with LaMonica. “I had been out of the office for two weeks and wasn’t involved in the agenda preparation or review. I also missed it, or we would have had a brief discussion about the situation,” he admitted. “So, if you need to hold someone accountable, it’s on me. Nonetheless, I stand behind contracting with Alpine as they were our only option and they do outstanding work. They were the landscaper for the library.”
Gunnison County commissioner board chair Laura Pukett Daniels said while the members of the commission weren’t aware of the ownership issue, there are safeguards in place. “At the September 2 meeting no one on the Board of County Commissioners was aware that the contract we approved with Gunny Bear Ventures, Inc. (dba Alpine Landscapes) was with the company owned by the County’s CFO,” she said in an email this week. “Since learning of the CFO’s ownership, and reviewing the conditions in which that contract was created and signed, we believe that all due protections against a conflict of interest were put in place. Knowing what we know now, I believe we should have discussed the contract and the protections on the public record, but at the time of the meeting this potential issue was unknown to the Board.”
