Management study is deferred amid controversy
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

What looked like a routine procedural matter became sidetracked in controversy last week when two residents alleged the county is engaging in a cover-up regarding awarding a management consulting contract. The current board unanimously deferred consideration of the contract to Jan. 9, the first meeting of the newly-elected board.

County staff recommended the $135,000 contract go to TATC Consulting for an "independent evaluation of county management practices and procedures, contracting procedures and processes and to identify opportunities and make recommendations to make the county more efficient in spending taxpayers' money."

But Col. Ronald Hall (ret.) insisted the evaluation should be done by County Administrator Jay Stegmaier and his staff, using "data that was already available. This dog can't hunt," he added, calling the study "a cover-up of government misdoings."

Matoaca resident Brenda Stewart said the study period does not go back far enough to review the purchase of school sites at what she says were inflated prices. She called the purchase of new school sites in Bermuda District "questionable land deals." Stewart then pointed to a 12.4-acre site, part of the land purchased for the Clover Hill replacement school, as being assessed at $37,200 with an option price agreed to of $249,000 in December 2004. A month later, she says Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) paid $496,000 for the land. "What happened?" she asked, suggesting that eminent domain could have been used by the school system.

CCPS selects school locations, and the County Attorney's Office assists in executing the transaction. As proposed, the study is to include "school board contracting and procurement procedures," but only goes back two years.

Asked after the meeting why the study was only for two years, Stegmaier said that wasn't the scope of the contract as requested by the supervisors. "To study process and procedures, two years is a pretty long time," he said. "An opportunity for improvement ought to appear within a two-year cycle. There's a difference in auditing a specific event in the past and county process and procedures."

Last summer, the board asked for the audit to see if it was spending its budget wisely. Clover Hill Supervisor Art Warren said he wanted one so the new board could review it. Seven companies responded to the request for proposal, and six firms were interviewed before TATC Consulting was recommended.