Architects Squabble Over Hospital Bids at Supervisors’ Meeting : Public works: County acknowledges ‘anomalies’ in contract process. Board puts off decision on designs.

Quiet lobbying by top architects for a piece of Los Angeles County’s planned $2.1-billion public hospital building program erupted before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday into angry charges of unfairness in the process used to select the winning design teams.

Top county officials acknowledged some “anomalies” in the selection process, and board Chairman Deane Dana said it appeared to be “tainted.”

After a two-hour hearing, the board voted unanimously to postpone action on design contracts for the two largest construction projects--replacing the giant County-USC Medical Center and erecting a new public hospital in the San Gabriel Valley.

It is the second time in a month that the supervisors have delayed awarding the design contracts on a project described as one of the biggest new public works undertakings in the nation.

An even bigger question than who will design the hospitals is whether Los Angeles County voters will let the projects be built. County officials are banking on voters to pass bond issues, but the recession and the recent defeat of other spending measures make the chances of approval unclear.

Nonetheless, the national competition among architectural firms has been intense.

The work is being planned at a time when major architectural firms are laying off personnel and scrounging for contracts in a stagnant building market. Design fees alone are estimated at $100 million.

The unusual open criticism Tuesday stemmed from unhappiness with the selection method, which departs from the county’s standard practice. The Department of Health Services, which would operate the hospitals, has taken charge of recommending an architect to the Board of Supervisors, a process normally handled by public works engineers in the county’s Internal Services Division.

Architects complained Tuesday that health officials failed to fairly evaluate the candidates, consider their cost-saving design suggestions and verify the inclusion of minorities on design teams. Several firms denounced the county’s selection committee for providing no opportunity to rebut bad references.

Internal Services Director William Stewart, who was asked by the supervisors to scrutinize the health department’s work, agreed that reference checks should have been done before candidates were interviewed. He called this lapse one of a few “anomalies” in the selection process, but concluded that it did not affect the outcome.

But the supervisors, voicing concern that Stewart had not interviewed any of the candidates, said they were unwilling to award the big hospital contracts without a more thorough review.

The board did, however, give the go-ahead for design work on a new facility to replace the smaller High Desert Medical Center in Lancaster. The contract will be given to the local team of Ashen & Allen, Stone Marraccini Patterson and Langdon Wilson.

Front-runners for the bigger contracts expressed frustration at the postponement. Others criticized their colleagues for unsavory tactics.

Architect Julia Thomas, chief executive officer of Bobrow/Thomas & Associates of Los Angeles, which was not recommended for a contract, called Tuesday’s proceedings “a circus.”

Gyo Obata, whose firm is the top candidate for the estimated $40-million contract to design a new County-USC Medical Center, also criticized his fellow architects. “It was one of the worst shows of professionals . . . I’ve ever seen,” said Obata, chairman of the St. Louis-based Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, which has teamed up for the project with the Santa Monica firm of Lee Burkhart Liu.

The team led by Obata has been criticized by a Latina interior designer who says she was falsely claimed as a participant in an effort to help the team satisfy minority participation requirements.

Alycia Enciso, an interior designer, told The Times that the Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum team listed her as a team member in documents filed with the county. In truth she is committed to work with a rival architectural team, Enciso said. A Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum spokesman said Tuesday it was a misunderstanding.