Get tough on contracts

Monday, Aug. 27, 2007 | 10 p.m.

A new method of overseeing maintenance and construction at the College of Southern Nevada has obviously been needed for some time. In March the Las Vegas Sun found that at least three companies with large contracts at the college were also doing work at the private home of the college's director of construction.

The stories documenting this situation, written by Sun reporter Christina Littlefield, raised a question about whether Bob Gilbert, the construction director, was appropriately granting college contracts, particularly to those three companies. Did they agree to provide free or low-cost work at his private home in exchange for receiving the public contracts?

That question is now under investigation by the Nevada attorney general's office, which in June seized documents from the college's business and construction offices.

On Monday Littlefield reported that Patty Charlton Dayar, the college's vice president of finance, is now requiring more detail in the bills submitted by contractors. In the course of reporting about Gilbert, Littlefield found that invoices were apt to be vague about the number of laborers on the job, the date work was completed and the type of equipment and the amount of materials used.

The new invoices represent an improvement in accountability for maintenance and construction work. They will undoubtedly improve the efficiency of matching work performed with payment owed. We have to say, however, that there never should have been any vagueness in this area to begin with.

But the problem at hand involves companies contracted by the college working for a college employee -- a conflict of interest already prohibited by their contracts. How will new invoices stop this?

All three companies -- Southern Nevada Construction (formerly Universal Paving), WGDL and Inline Inc. -- still have contracts with the college, and Gilbert is still on the payroll. The college needs to take the additional step of making it clear -- in writing -- that proven, major contract violations will result in dismissals.