Contractors for the city of Denver are beginning work before their contracts are properly executed and signed about 75 percent of the time, according to the Denver auditor’s office.
The issue caused tension Monday when the city’s Department of Human Services asked the council to approve a $525,000 contract for homeless outreach by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. About $69,000 of that contract would be paid with money from the city’s general fund, which faces a $120 million deficit over the next 17 months.
Councilman Charlie Brown pointed out that the coalition had been performing the work since April, acting with the expectation the council would approve the contract.
“This is beyond sloppiness,” Brown said. “This is irresponsible. Tonight we need to stand up as a City Council and say that we’ve had enough and vote this down.”
The council ultimately approved the contract 10-2, with Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz joining Brown in dissent and Councilman Paul Lopez absent.
Other council members agreed the city’s contracting process had problems but objected to withholding homeless services to make a point about the issue.
Denis Berckefeldt, spokesman for Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher, said in an interview that Gallagher raised the issue with Mayor John Hickenlooper three years ago but nothing has been changed.
“Why on the earth does it take so long to get a contract through the pro cess?” Berckefeldt asked. “It’s the most bureaucratic, cumbersome thing.”
He said the auditor’s office will conduct a performance audit into the city’s procurement process to highlight the issue again and find out why so many contractors start work before a contract has been executed.
Hickenlooper’s chief of staff, Kelly Brough, said the contract issue is a problem that should be addressed.
“We’ll continue to work as a team on why it’s important not to allow work to begin before the contract is executed and signed,” she said. “We also have to work to shorten the time it takes to get a contract executed.”
In other news, the council approved on an 11-1 vote, with Faatz dissenting, a contract to pay Parsons Transportation Group as much as $160 million over seven years to manage redevelopment of Denver International Airport’s Jeppesen Terminal, including construction of a Westin Hotel and a FasTracks commuter-rail station, and a remake of the terminal’s Great Hall.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
