THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: January 31, 1997 11:08 AM Friday; Rod Welch

Meet with Tom Keesling re form 2626 evaluation of Comm Metrics.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Tom Benero said DE will not approve Welch on Oakland Harbor project
3...Official View of Reality Challenge of Leadership
4...Organizational Inertia Hampers Progress on New Ideas
5...COE Prepare Form 2626 Evaluation on Communication Metrics
6...Status of Payment on Pending Invoice


..............
Click here to comment!

CONTACTS 
0201 - Corps of Engineers, SFD            415 977 8400 fax 8483
020101 - Mr. Max R. Blodgett, II, P.E., L.S.
020102 - Chief =415 977 8444; Construction Operations Division =415 977 8480
0202 - Corps of Engineers, SFD            415 977 8400 fax 8483
020201 - Mr. Thompson F. Keesling, Architect; Assistant Chief =415 977 8473
020202 - Construction Operations Division   =415 977 8480
0203 - Corps of Engineers, SFD            415 977 8400 fax 8483
020301 - Mr. Thomas Benero; Chief =415 977 8511; Contracting Division

SUBJECTS
Increase Budget, Port of Oakland
COE Staffing
Port of Richmond
Port of Oakland Says Not Needed
Port Oakland Requested Cancelling Com Metrics DE Approved Contrary to
Cancels Com Metrics Contract Contrary to Recommendations of District

1108 -    ..
1109 - Summary/Objective
1110 -
111001 - Follow up ref SDS 18 0000, ref SDS 17 0000.
111002 -
111003 - May have made some progress on procurement of Communication Metrics on
111004 - Richmond project.  Tom Keesling indicated he will write it up over the
111005 - weekend.  Tom Benero will present to DE.  Tom Keesling will also
111006 - initiate a form 2626 evaluation on the just completed Welch contract.
111007 -
111008 -
111009 -
1111 -
1112 -
1113 - Progress
1114 -
111401 - When I arrived Tom Benero was meeting with Max and Marc McGovern in
111402 - Max's office. I met with Tom Keesling next door.
111403 - ..
111404 - Gave Tom a copy of the letter to Tom Benero ref DIP 5 line 32,
111405 - and discussed getting a form 2626 evaluation of the completed Welch
111406 - contract, ref DRP 2 line 202, and ref DRP 4 line 111, received at
111407 - ref SDS 15 line 136.
111408 -
111409 - We considered briefly Tom Benero's understanding on 970110 that John
111410 - Eft changed his opinion and seemed to concur that COE can issue a sole
111411 - source contract to Welch, per ref SDS 10 0034.
111412 -
111413 -     [Below Tom Benero clarifies understanding on this.]
111414 -
111415 - Submitted to Tom a copy of the draft scope of services, ref DIP 3
111416 - 0000, prepared for Marc McGovern at ref SDS 12 0000.
111417 -
111418 - Tom examined the scope of services while we talked and advised it can
111419 - be used to prepare a formal procurement with a few hours work by
111420 - adding a government estimate and standard procurement provisions.
111421 - ..
111422 - This scope, ref DIP 3 0847, accomplishes the management
111423 - objectives in the 970108 letter to Max, ref DIP 2 0000, that covers
111424 - the issues Tom and I discussed on 961220, ref SDS 4 line 130.
111425 -
111426 - We reviewed status of Welch procurement that has become protracted
111427 - because there is not enough time for assigned staff to focus on this
111428 - matter, and the discussion with Marc McGovern last week that he
111429 - understood from Tom Benero that COE cannot hire Welch nor Jim Stout,
111430 - per ref SDS 17 line 98.
111431 -
111432 - Tom explained that he has prepared most of the formal procurements of
111433 - this kind in the District over the past few years.  He said it takes a
111434 - dedicated block of time, so he does these tasks in the evenings at
111435 - home.  There was discussion of the difficulty this presents for others
111436 - to develop the documents and manage the administration of a non-
111437 - standard procurement, here "management support."  Tom indicated an
111438 - advertisement could be issued based on the proposed scope of services
111439 - within a week, if it was adequately followed up through the District's
111440 - administrative machinery.
111441 - ..
111442 - We considered issuing an immediate sole source procurement to
111443 - support the Oakland Harbor project which needs immediate support, per
111444 - the record at ref SDS 10 line 174.  During this period, a larger
111445 - procurement can be performed for the scope submitted in the Welch
111446 - letter dated 970115, ref DIP 3 line 27.
111447 -
111448 - We decided to meet with Tom Benero and Max to reach consensus on what
111449 - is wanted and what is needed to accomplish it.
111450 -
111451 - The meeting next door was breaking up, so I went in and asked Tom
111452 - Benero and Max if they can meet with Tom Keesling and I this
111453 - afternoon, OA 1400, since Tom leaves at 1500.  Max said he has a
111454 - meeting at 1400, and Tom Benero has a meeting at 1330.  I asked if we
111455 - can have 10 minutes now.  They came next door to Tom Keesling's
111456 - office.
111457 - ..
111458 - I explained the ideas Tom and I had discussed.
111459 -
111460 - Max said that Marc and Leonard (the District RE) have indicated they
111461 - would like to have Communication Metrics support.  Marc is working on
111462 - a scope of services with Leonard.  We considered briefly that Marc is
111463 - very busy right now because of the Dutra situation and other matters.
111464 - He was just given additional tasks from the meeting with Max and Tom
111465 - Benero. So, on the one hand, Marc does not have enough time to focus
111466 - on the Welch procurement, as seen from the experience the past 4
111467 - weeks.
111468 -
111469 - I mentioned the discussion with Marc last week that he understood from
111470 - Tom Benero that COE cannot contract with Welch nor Jim Stout and that
111471 - CON OPS should rely on management support from the District
111472 - Engineering Division, ref SDS 17 7404.  As a result, it appears he has
111473 - cause not to be preparing the Welch procurement.
111474 - ..
111475 - Tom Benero said that his discussion with Marc concerned only
111476 - hiring Jim Stout, not Welch.  He advised there is no restriction on
111477 - hiring Welch, which seems consistent with Tom's observation in our
111478 - meeting on 970121, ref SDS 15 8850.  Tom said that John Eft told him
111479 - that COE cannot hire a former COE attorney to provide legal services.
111480 - Tom advised that John is in Washington D.C. today about hiring a
111481 - contract attorney to replace Jim Stout.
111482 -
111483 -      [On 970211 discussion with Marc. ref SDS 20 8859]
111484 - ..
111485 - Max noted that the need for support on the Oakland Harbor
111486 - project may diminish as a result of the recent Chapter 11 filing by
111487 - Dutra.
111488 -
111489 - I explained that this circumstance will increase the need for expert
111490 - contract management support, per ref SDS 10 line 205 and Action Items
111491 - in the letter issued to Tom Benero today, ref DIP 5 line 109.  What
111492 - progress has been made on gaining control of documents on the Oakland
111493 - Harbor project, which Marc reported assigning to Tom White and Enoch
111494 - two weeks ago? ref SDS 11 line 327.  What is the status of the
111495 - analysis for time extensions due on quantity changes, per discussion
111496 - with Max two weeks ago, ref SDS 14 line 164, and on 970110, ref SDS 10
111497 - line 283?
111498 -
111499 -      [On 970722 need for Communication Metrics increased, contractor
111500 -      claims $65M on $42M contract. ref SDS 22 7488.]
111501 -
111502 -      [On 981027 government paid contractor $30M above contract price
111503 -      to settle claims.
111504 -
111505 -  ..
111506 -
111507 - Tom Benero said DE will not approve Welch on Oakland Harbor project
111508 - because the Port of Oakland objects, as reported on 970117, ref SDS 13
111509 - 6288, and 970110. ref SDS 10 5739, and previously discussion with Tom
111510 - Keesling on 961226. ref SDS 5 0549
111511 -
111512 -      [On 970213 Herb Cheong reports that the Port approved hiring
111513 -      Welch under proposed scope of services. ref SDS 21 7269]
111514 -
111515 -      [On 970731 Marc confirm's Port's objections. ref SDS 23 8849]
111516 - ..
111517 - Max indicated, also, that Welch cannot be hired on a sole source
111518 - justification based on District Counsel, John Eft's analysis.
111519 -
111520 -      [On 970731 report that John approved ref SDS 23 8402]
111521 -
111522 - We recalled the discussion with Tom Benero on 970110 where Tom advised
111523 - that John changed his opinion as a result of review with Tom Keesling,
111524 - ref SDS 10 0034.  When this part of the discussion with Tom Benero and
111525 - Max occurred, today, Tom Keesling had stepped out of the meeting to
111526 - warm his lunch in the microwave across the hall.  Later, Max, Tom
111527 - Benero and I went to lunch across the street in the PG&E building.  I
111528 - cited this matter again, and Tom Benero said that he was not in the
111529 - meeting with John Eft and Tom Keesling, but that Tom later told him of
111530 - his meeting with John and so since he did not actually attend that
111531 - meeting he does not know if John changed his opinion or not.
111532 - ..
111533 - I cited this understanding on 970110. ref SDS 10 6482
111534 -
111535 -
111536 -
1116 -

SUBJECTS
Official View of Reality, Substitute for
Leadership

1305 -
130501 -  ..
130502 - Official View of Reality Challenge of Leadership
130503 - Organizational Inertia Hampers Progress on New Ideas
130504 -
130505 - As a result, it appears that organizational inertia precludes efforts
130506 - to make a sole source award.  Even though there is no apparent bar,
130507 - responsible staff would have to overcome an "official view of reality"
130508 - in order to issue Welch a contract. As well, while the major need is
130509 - for support on the Oakland project, since there does not seem to be a
130510 - mechanism to present this to the DE, that support will have to be
130511 - deferred or provided in some other way.  Therefore, we decided to
130512 - perform a conventional competitive bid procurement for the Richmond
130513 - Harbor project based on the Communication Metrics scope of services,
130514 - rather than work on an interim sole source award for the Oakland
130515 - Harbor project.
130516 - ..
130517 - Tom Keesling will write up a procurement for the Richmond
130518 - project and submit to Tom Benero,  Tom will have Marcus Tikostky
130519 - formalize the procurement and issue the advertisement after first
130520 - gaining approval from DE.  This seems like it can take from 2 - 4
130521 - months, if Tom Keesling is successful in getting the procurement scope
130522 - of services to Tom Benero next week.
130523 -
130524 - Tom Benero, Max and I then went to lunch across the street in the PG&E
130525 - building.  Tom recommended it because it has pizza, but we wound up
130526 - getting ham and cheese sandwiches.
130527 - ..
130528 - I asked if I am being too pushy?
130529 -
130530 - Max said yes; but, he asked me to keep pushing (what he actually said
130531 - was "Keep in touch." This occurred when we were leaving and he turned
130532 - and called after me.  Since he made this special effort, I assume he
130533 - wants continued reminders on this matter.)
130534 -
130535 - During lunch Tom explained his concern that COE command changes every
130536 - two years make it difficult for the organization to adjust to new
130537 - leadership. The DE has placed a lot of pressure to change work
130538 - procedures.  Max mentioned a meeting today in which he felt DE was
130539 - expecting to get an objection and dealt with it, when it came, in a
130540 - pointed manner in order to assert leadership.  There does not seem to
130541 - be a means by which new initiatives that arise each day can be
130542 - integrated into the work flow in an orderly manner.  Each day there
130543 - are new ad hoc tasks.  Tom noted that the DE told him yesterday he is
130544 - taking two of Tom's people.
130545 - ..
130546 - There was discussion that in 18 months a new DE will be on the
130547 - scene and the organization will be moved in another direction.
130548 -
130549 -    [On 970919 reviewed leadership issue. ref SDS 24 7344]
130550 -
130551 -
130552 -
1306 -

SUBJECTS
2626 COE Contractor Evaluation
Capturing the Record

1505 -
150501 -  ..
150502 - COE Prepare Form 2626 Evaluation on Communication Metrics
150503 -
150504 - Asked Tom Keesling to initiate this evaluation per Tom Benero, ref SDS
150505 - 7 line 283.
150506 -
150507 - Did not submit copy of PG&E memo on use of SDS, ref DRP 1 line 16, as
150508 - an example, but will do so on Monday.
150509 -
150510 -
150511 -
150512 -
1506 -

SUBJECTS
Invoice period 961111 961226
Billings & statements

1705 -
170501 -  ..
170502 - Status of Payment on Pending Invoice
170503 -
170504 - I called Tom Keesling in the afternoon to follow up discussions with
170505 - Tom Benero and Ofell a few weeks ago at ref SDS 15 line 155 and ref
170506 - SDS 16 line 157, and left a message asking him about calling his
170507 - contact in the Sacramento District where payments are issued, to see
170508 - if they have the invoice and whether they need any further information
170509 - to issue payment.
170510 -
170511 -      [See follow up at ref SDS 19 line 112.]
170512 -
170513 -
170514 -
Distribution. . . . See "CONTACTS"