Lawsuit: Two county commissioners pressured builder into making political contribution

Palm Beach County Commissioner Mack Bernard pressured a contractor to support last year’s affordable housing bond issue, according to a lawsuit filed by a Greenacres builder, Robling Architecture Construction Inc.

The claim, which county attorneys are "vigorously" opposing, is drawn from new evidence Robling claims it obtained as part of a lawsuit it filed in June against the county after it failed to win a multimillion dollar contract overseeing the construction of new fire stations.

By a 4-3 vote on March 22, 2022, commissioners awarded the work to Core Construction Services of Florida, despite the county purchasing agent's finding that Robling should have been awarded the deal. The agent said Core was improperly given points for having a presence in Palm Beach County.

Citing the purchasing agent's report, Robling has asked the courts to overturn the decision to award the contract to Core.

Robling claims it has uncovered evidence that Bernard’s aide pressured Core to make a sizable contribution to the Hometown Housing Trust, a nonprofit created to support the passage of a bond referendum to build affordable and workforce housing in Palm Beach County. Voters approved the measure in November.

Based on emails obtained from Core, Robling’s lawyers are seeking to add Bernard and former Commissioner Dave Kerner as defendants.

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Construction lawsuit makes its case by citing several emails

Core’s former director of business strategy, Tara Moses, said in emails to her superiors:

“A few promises were made to some of the folks who assisted with getting the PBC Fire Renovations project across the finish line and indicated that a donation should be made to Hometown Housing Trust, at Commissioner Mack Bernard’s Request.”

In an email to Scott Olthoff, the president of Core, Moses said Bernard’s assistant pressed for a donation of between $10,000 and $25,000.

Moses said: “I believe we should aim on the lower side and give $10K and ask our partners to help cover that. They are expecting a check within the week.” Core ultimately made a $5,000 donation to Hometown Housing Trust.

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In an email just before the check was sent, Moses told Olthoff:

“I’m okay with whatever you decide. I just want to get the check out by tomorrow (Sept. 16) as Mack has called twice to follow up already. Let me know.”

Olthoff’s answer to Moses:

“My thinking at this point is $5,000. While we appreciate their efforts, it hasn’t really yielded much (although they probably see it differently.) If we could get some traction on these projects, maybe we could do some follow-up with them.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the emails show there were meetings between Core and Bernard and Kerner and that the two men engaged in activities that exceeded “the scope of their official capacities as county commissioners and acted in bad faith, willfully and wantonly and in disregard for Robling’s constitutional rights.”

County commissioner: Attorney is 'vigorously defending allegations'

Bernard said he cannot comment “on the substance of the pending litigation" but added that the county attorney’s office is "vigorously defending the allegations contained in the lawsuit." Efforts to obtain comment from Kerner, now the executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, were unsuccessful.

Commissioner Maria Marino strongly opposed the decision to take the work away from Robling. There was also strong pushback from the Florida East Coast Chapter of Associated General Contractors, which argued the work should never have been awarded to Core and its partner, D. Stephenson Construction.

After the vote, Bernard called the process "fair and transparent. The commission is a deliberative body. That's why there are seven commissioners. We did our job. That's all.”

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lawsuit: Two Palm Beach County commissioners pressured contractor