COMPLAINT ALLEGES ARCHITECT ERRED IN SCHOOL BID:

 

Complaint alleges architects erred in school bid

Posted on 09/21/2011 by lkastner

Three architects with PBK Architects, a Houston-based firm often hired by San Antonio area school districts, are being investigated by the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners.

 

Thirty-two Corpus Christi-area architects and engineers filed a complaint late last month against PBK architects Joel Hernandez, James Ian Powell and Irene Nagaglioni, as well as Raymond Gignac of Gignac & Associates, a Corpus Christi firm.

 

The two firms partnered in a successful bid to provide architectural services for the Corpus Christi Independent School District’s new Southside Middle School.

 

The complaint alleges that the team violated the Texas Professional Services Procurement Act, a two-step practice that requires government entities to first choose architects based on their qualifications and negotiate price afterward.

 

In CCISD, “board members voting to award to PBK/Gignac made reference to the cost savings promised by the architects as a basis for their support,” according to the complaint.

 

The complaint also outlines a trip to Houston – including meals and airfare paid for by the PBK/Gignac team — taken by five CCISD board members to tour schools designed by PBK shortly before the vote on the middle school contract.

 

Hernandez, a partner with PBK, did not return a call for comment Wednesday afternoon.

 

In 2009, he defended the firm’s relationship with Judson ISD when questions arose about PBK’s contracts to provide design work for many of the district’s 2006 bond projects.

 

“The contracts were negotiated in a manner that is consistent with legal and industry standards,” Hernandez wrote then in an e-mail to the San Antonio Express-News.

In a 2009 report that drew the attention of the FBI, an attorney hired by Judson found that the district erred by talking price with PBK prior to selecting the firm.

Judson Board President Jose Macias, who was first elected to the board in 2010, said the district’s problems with its 2006 bond have made him sensitive to concerns like those aired in Corpus Christi.

 

“Our job is not to become best friends with the vendor,” he said.

 

PBK is also architect on the planned renovation of San Antonio ISD’s Edison High School.

 

The Texas Board of Architectural Examiners can spend months bringing an investigation to resolution, spokesman Glenn Garry said Tuesday.

 

In cases where a violation is found, penalties can range from a warning to a fine or an order for additional continuing education.

Hernandez received a warning from the board in 2008 for a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation violation.