City Council to review consultant’s contract

By: Craig Shultz | Original Article at PE.com

Beaumont council to look at deal with Urban Logic, company at the center of DA investigation.

Urban Logic Consultants, whose relationship with Beaumont is at the center of an investigation, will come under the scrutiny of the City Council this week.

The council will conduct a review of its Urban Logic contract when it meets Tuesday.

The item appears at the urging of Councilman Lloyd White, who has said he wants to end all connections between the city and the company.

“The current financial status of the city and the recent actions by the district attorney targeting Urban Logic Consultants requires a re-evaluation of our financial strategies and relationships with our contractors,” White wrote in a message Friday. “Urban Logic has been an integral part in the development and financial history of the city of Beaumont for more than 20 years. The council has an obligation to the public to consider our contract and Beaumont’s future with Urban Logic.”

The council on Tuesday will have the option to continue or cancel its agreement with the company, continue or cancel current work orders and approve two new work orders or decide to seek bids from other companies.

Urban Logic at one time employed many of the city’s top administrators.

Proponents say the company has saved the city millions of dollars and helped it weather the recession. But the company has been under scrutiny, for more than a decade, of council critics who claim financial mismanagement.

Things came to a head April 22 when the District Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the FBI, raided Beaumont City Hall, an Urban Logic office and at least two other locations, including the home of City Manager Alan Kapanicas. An address in Temecula also was searched.

White, who was elected in November with two other new council members, asked at the last two council meetings to have the contracts reviewed in public. His first effort died April 28 when no one seconded his motion. Colleagues agreed to the review May 5.

White was adamant that not only should the contracts be reviewed but that he wanted the opportunity to vote to cancel them.

Urban Logic was bought in 2012 by Kieran McKiernan, and in December 2013, the city signed a new engineering contract. Under the four-year deal for engineering services, the consultant is paid based on a specific fee schedule under spelled-out work orders.

McKiernan’s attorney said the investigation predates his client’s ownership and said they are cooperating with investigators.