Twin probes hit parking program

Claims of favoritism, conflict of interest investigated in city department

By Nick Budnick

The Portland Tribune, Oct 9, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

<< Prev. Page 1 | 2

Those documents give one possible reason why Precise ended its relationship with FeatherLite, and also suggest why Feathers might not have liked McCoy’s handling of the situation.

Money went missing

In October 2007, about $3,400 in city funds turned up missing from SmartMeters that were being serviced by FeatherLite under Precise Parklink’s upgrade contract, sparking a police investigation, records show.

The investigation was dropped when Feathers’ two meter employees passed polygraphs and Precise reimbursed the city for the missing money.

Records show that when Feathers e-mailed Precise depicting the police investigation as exonerating his firm, McCoy e-mailed Precise, saying the city did not necessarily support Feathers’ characterization.

In a March 2008 letter to the city describing steps it had taken to prevent a recurrence, Precise Parklink said it severed its relationship with FeatherLite.

However, Feather’s lawyer, Lundberg, told the Portland Tribune that McCoy informed Feathers that the incident had nothing to do with the loss of FeatherLite’s contract.

Lundberg wrote that Feathers suffered economic damages since he’d retooled his company and hired employees to work on the city’s SmartMeters. Feathers also suffered damages from “stress and anxiety” due to the damage to the company’s reputation, the claim said.

In addition to Lundberg, Feathers is represented by former city Commissioner Jim Francesconi. Both lawyers are with the firm Haglund Kelley Horngren Jones & Wilder.

The investigation into Feather’s claim “is ongoing,” said Kraut, the deputy city attorney. “We are hopeful that the investigation will be completed very soon.”

Favoritism rumors denied

News of the internal city investigation comes even as a separate investigation of the parking program is being conducted by City Ombudsman Michael Mills, based on allegations that the parking program played favorites with contractors.

Contacted by the Portland Tribune, Mills declined to comment, and details of the complaint that sparked his investigation are not known.

McCoy, for his part, says he’s accustomed to rumors of favoritism, thanks to the competition between two SmartMeter manufacturers. In addition to the city’s 1,137 meters manufactured by Parkeon, it also has purchased about 225 made by Cale of Sweden.

McCoy also cited tensions with Laborers Local 483, which fears that McCoy wants to privatize city meter technicians’ jobs.

“I’m used to those types of rumors – it just comes with the territory,” McCoy said, adding that they are baseless. “It’s a very competitive environment.”

Regardless, the potential sale-and-lease-back deal Precise and the city had been negotiating – the one Feathers had hoped to be involved with – now is on the rocks.

Following a July audit report by City Auditor Gary Blackmer that questioned aspects of the proposal, city officials have said they don’t know if they will go through with it.

George Levey, a former Parkeon executive who now is the top U.S. representative of Cale, says that while he and McCoy have become friends, he’s never seen anything improper in how McCoy does his job.

He said McCoy’s critics don’t understand McCoy’s strategies simply because they don’t understand the increasingly high-tech parking industry.

“He tries to stay on the edge of technology, tries to be a businessman, and yeah, he’s done a few things that (others in the parking industry) think is a bit beyond creative,” Levey said. “But I just see Ellis McCoy as an efficient guy who takes (his job) seriously. … I think he’s just not getting a fair shake.”

nickbudnick@portlandtribune.com

<< Prev. Page 1 | 2

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit