Monday, Dec. 10, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.
After learning several weeks ago that Republic Services had treated Clark County's landfill attorney to several pricey meals, we wanted to see whether the garbage company was including such expenses in the amount it says it has spent to clean up and close the old Sunrise Landfill.
Republic has spent about $28.5 million on the landfill, according to a September filing with the county. Republic agreed to clean up and close the old dump in 1999, after a rainstorm eroded its cap and sent garbage into the Las Vegas Wash. In exchange, the county extended Republic's exclusive trash hauling contract 15 years, to 2035.
At the time, Republic estimated the work would cost $36 million. Eight years later, the work is nowhere near complete and the company wants the county to increase rates to pay costs beyond the $36 million.
So, is Republic applying fancy meals and the like toward its costs?
Initially, it was. From 2002 to 2004, Republic applied $163,300.94 in meals, entertainment and travel to its Sunrise bill.
But when Bob Coyle took over as area president of the company in 2004, he deducted $155,883.58 in meals, entertainment and travel from the amount the company had spent on the landfill. Since then, the company's filings with the county show only a $125.41 expenditure in 2006.
Overall, that means $7,542.77 of the $28.5 million that Republic said it had spent as of September was on meals, entertainment and travel.
We called Coyle about this on Friday. He said a junior accountant had incorrectly coded the 2002 to 2004 items.
"That never should have been charged against the Sunrise project," Coyle said.
So why is there still more than $7,000 in such expenses applied against the project?
Coyle said those expenses should not be applied to the project. "That will be out of there by 5 p.m.," he promised.
We got interested in the issue when Coyle told us that he had picked up two dinners for Scott Gordon, the county's attorney on Sunrise issues who also works for Republic in California. The meals took place before meetings with the federal Environmental Protection Agency in Las Vegas and San Francisco. They averaged $130. One of Coyle's supervisors may have picked up another meal, Coyle said.
Anything interesting happen at Tuesday's Clark County commission meeting?
You mean aside from Commissioner Tom Collins jumping off a horse and wrestling a steer to the ground? OK, so that didn't happen at the meeting. But Collins did show a video of himself doing that in an attempt to promote this week's National Finals Rodeo. He looked pretty good, even though the steer slipped free.
Anything else?
There was one issue that didn't get much press, but we found it interesting.
A group that commissioners appointed to make recommendations on how to boost small, minority- and women-owned businesses put forth a few ideas Tuesday.
They weren't received warmly, though.
First, the group, called the Business Development Advisory Council, wanted commissioners to eliminate pre-qualification requirements for businesses that bid on county contracts.
Currently, the county requires businesses to meet certain requirements to qualify for facility and park construction contracts worth more than $250,000. The pre-qualification condition requires businesses to fill out lots of paperwork demonstrating things such as bonding capacity and licenses. It also creates a significant barrier to many small, minority- and women-owned businesses, said Cynthia Cicero, chairwoman of the advisory council.
Second, the group wanted commissioners to change the county's labor requirements for large projects at McCarran International Airport. The requirements force nonunion shops to contribute to union trust funds. They also limit companies to using seven nonunion employees, and even then only if they hire an equal number of union workers.
Although the requirement applies to big-dollar projects, the effect trickles down to subcontractors, which is where many minority- and women-owned businesses start out, Cicero said.
The issue is important because 95 percent of small, women- and minority-owned construction companies nationwide are nonunion, according to the group.
It recommended that commissioners drop the requirement for union trust fund contributions and instead require nonunion businesses to provide benefits on par with those offered to union workers. It also recommended that commissioners allow companies to use all of their own employees before requiring them to hire from local union halls.
What did commissioners think about this?
Collins, a strong union supporter, immediately said he wasn't interested in the proposals.
"I would recommend we say, 'Thank you very much for your report,' but not accept these recommendations," he said.
In the end, commissioners did not adopt the proposals. Instead, they asked that the council's goals and membership be reassessed. Collins said he wants more union representation on the committee.
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