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Reached by telephone, Metalset's owner, Ricardo Rosales (no relation to the deputy city attorney), recently declined comment. Otani of B & F Concrete, whose telephone is answered by the offices of Casey Fogli, defended his firm: "We are legitimate. We had gone through certification. They [the HRC] are trying to drag up anything they can because they have egg on their faces."
There's clearly blame aplenty to go around. But it isn't likely to help B & F Concrete's case. Williams' recommendation to Bamba on Nov. 6 was decertification of B & F Concrete and Metalset from the city's affirmative action program.
How does Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America end up signing on the likes of B & F Concrete and Metalset as MWB subcontractors -- and, for that matter, doing so under penalty of perjury?
Turn back the calendar to 1995. The airport had just launched a $2.4 billion expansion. In the works for the air travel and shipping hub were a new international terminal complex, new highway ramps and circulation roads, and the automated light-rail train to move passengers and employees around the entire facility.
Beginning the light-rail project, which is to be the linchpin of the expansion, airport management started by engaging industry in a discussion about the state of the art in light-rail technology. The staff arrived at a set of specifications for its train system, estimated to cost up to $165 million. As an affirmative action measure, the project was then parsed into components that might reasonably be carried out by MWBs. Finally, an MWB participation goal of 12 percent was established and the project advertised in February 1996.
The deal caught the eye of a New Yorker, Gino Antoniello, of Sumitomo Corp. Antoniello pitched Mitsubishi on a partnership. The plan Mitsubishi ultimately blessed entails Sumitomo acting as the consultant responsible for assembling the bid, with Mitsubishi serving as the general contractor that will actually deliver and install the train system.
When it came to hiring second-tier contractors and subcontractors, however, Antoniello was at a disadvantage, compared to Sanders of ADtranz. Sanders had been in the Bay Area since 1972. Where Sanders was familiar with local players, Antoniello leaned heavily on intermediary contractors with S.F. profiles to recruit certified, second-tier MWB subcontractors. A team materialized, nonetheless, and a bid was delivered by the June 10, 1996, deadline.
At the airport, the sheer magnitude of work seems to have contributed to the failure to detect the stark shortcomings of B & F Concrete and Metalset earlier in the game. As of the close of 1996, the airport had already awarded more than $1 billion in contracts related to the expansion -- major projects that would carry MWB-hiring goals. Yet, under an arrangement whereby the airport paid to have HRC compliance officers on staff at the facility, only two officers were requested, leaving little leeway for thorough examinations of minority- and women-owned businesses tapped by big contractors. Accordingly, compliance reviews were limited to a check merely to see whether a sub appeared in the HRC's database of certified MWBs, and whether they held the proper licenses for the job they'd been designated to carry out.
Complicating matters on the light-rail contract, a senior compliance officer who was familiar with the contract specifications was on leave in August and September when Mitsubishi was due for its compliance review. A junior staffer, Richard Norton, then cleared Mitsubishi -- and sent airport management a memo advising them of the outcome.
On Nov. 7, the day after receiving Williams' investigative report on B & F Concrete and Metalset, HRC Director Bamba ordered Antoniello to her office for a Nov. 12 meeting to discuss his familiarity with the two subs, and how he recruited certified MWBs to meet the affirmative action goals.
The notice came as a surprise. Remember, the HRC had certified B & F Concrete and Metalset in 1994 and 1996, respectively. To Antoniello, if the agency was looking for culprits, perhaps it should have looked in the mirror rather than at him. Moreover, the airport-based HRC staff person's memo clearing Mitsubishi had been given to airport management Sept. 18.
Bamba considered that notice invalid, however, because it had been issued without HRC front-office approval, by a junior staffer, and during a three-week window when the HRC was between permanent directors. (Ed Lee, Bamba's predecessor, had become S.F. purchaser Sept. 10.)
Bamba's come-to-Jesus meeting at the HRC office was a well-attended, tense affair.
Aside from Bamba, Williams, and Antoniello, it drew two other HRC staffers, three other figures from Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, three lawyers from City Attorney Louise Renne's office (two who work for the airport, the other for the HRC), a senior airport manager, and Mitsubishi's politically wired counsel, William Coblentz, of the law firm Coblentz Cahen McCabe & Breyer.
Williams, the HRC compliance officer, put Antoniello through the paces, as revealed by a meeting transcript.
Williams: "Where is Metalset located?"
Antoniello: "They have a small office on Michigan Street."
Williams: "What equipment does Metalset own?"
Antoniello: "They provided us with an equipment list. I would have to check it again."
Williams: "Where is everything kept?"
Antoniello: "Either at job sites or their place of business."
Williams: "Have you or anyone else visited the site?"
Antoniello: "I visited on one occasion."
Williams: "Did you see any equipment?"
Antoniello: "Some minor stuff."
Williams: "What did you see?"
Antoniello: "I don't remember exactly."
Williams: "Did you ever visit [B & F Concrete's] site?"
Antoniello: "No."
Williams: "[Were] there any other concrete firms solicited?"
