CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State legislators are seeking assurances that the state Division of Highways is seeking ways to crack down on the possibility of pay-for-play schemes like the one that resulted in four indictments last month.
In that case, U.S. Attorney Bill Ihlenfeld, after a yearlong investigation, claimed bribes and kickbacks were exchanged for steering state DOH contracts worth $1.5 million to a South Carolina-based engineering company.
Bruce E. Kenney, III, Andrew P. Nichols, James Travis Miller, and Mark R. Whitt were charged in the scheme, which existed from 2008 through 2014 and saw highway work routed to the Dennis Corporation of Columbia, S.C.
Bayliss and Ramey, Inc., a Putnam County highway electrical contractor, was also charged.
Legislators already had been focused on last year’s 29-count indictment a year ago involving the former head of the state Division of Highways Equipment Division, Bob Andrew.
In that earlier case, Andrew, 77, of Bridgeport, took his own life in September 2015 just hours after being named in the indictment that charged him, among other things, with racketeering, bid rigging and allegedly tampering with witnesses and documents. He allegedly ordered state workers to conduct political work on state time and ordered the illegal sell of surplus vehicles and equipment.
“We take these investigations very seriously. It’s an embarrassment to the agency,” state Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said to members of the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Department of Transportation Accountability during an interim session Tuesday.
Earlier this fall, Mattox sent out a memo to highways employees that was part of broader changes including a requirement that any state employee-vendor interaction has to be approved by Mattox.
“It’s different than what industry has been used to working with,” Mattox told legislators today. “It’s a direction the agency needs to take to protect the integrity of the agency and to be sure we spend the taxpayers money as wisely as possible.”
Mike Folio, counsel for the transportation department, said a rigorous internal review is underway.
“I can’t prevent all fraud,” Folio said. “What I can tell you is we have many ways to monitor activities. This is a work in progress for lack of a better word.”
He said one focus is on what he called “impermissible secondary employment,” which he explained is another term for moonlighting. He said employees must seek written authorization to avoid conflicts — whether it would be performing outside work during state time or performing secondary work with a state vendor.
“I think there is and there are individuals within DOH who do engage on impermissible secondary employment,” Folio said. “They are working on DOH Time. Law, engineering. It covers work time working on the DOH clock. Also, work involving issues that the individual or DOH is involved in, and also contracts that person or division or agency is involved in. There’s a conflict at that point.”
Upon questioning by legislators, Folio said the legal division is trying to gain better control of how highways contracts are constructed.
“I think every issue involving contracts at DOH merits review,” Folio said. “We’ve had engineers practicing law. I’m just being perfectly candid. There have been well-entrenched engineers for a number of years who do not want to cede control to attorneys. We’re trying to wrestle that control back.
“They don’t listen to legal division, they don’t follow legal division’s advice, they ultimately get indicted. Nobody wants that.”
He said a new boilerplate contract is under development.
“We’re rolling out a new contract beginning Jan. 1 of this year that will be reasonable, responsible with appropriate identification provisions, insurance requirements, language that addresses broad collusion. We’ll have an easier time to seek immediate termination of these relationships.”