[1st-mile-nm] Maybe we should delete all references to this contract its about to blow wide apart

[peter]

Sunday, July 1, 2007

What Did Sandoval Get For $1.2M?

By Sean Olson
Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
    It appears Sandoval County is the proud owner of a completely 
useless $1.2 million wireless broadband network.
    Records obtained by the Journal show that, since 2005, roughly $1.2 
million of taxpayer money has been spent on the Internet network for the 
Sandoval Broadband project.
    But officials say the network will be abandoned as the county starts 
building a new one from scratch--- a cost estimated at nearly $1 million.
    "All the stuff (the county) was promised is vaporware. It doesn't 
exist," said Eric DaVersa, vice president of a national consulting 
company brought in last month to review the project.
    County Commissioner David Bency used layman's terms to describe what 
the county has to show for its $1.2 million--- "a series of tomato cans 
attached to a string."
    County Manager Debbie Hays has defended the project and the previous 
contractor but now claims the county was fleeced.
    "It is clear to me at this point that (Dandin Group CEO Dewayne 
Hendricks) has defrauded us," she said.
    Hays said the county is considering litigation and making insurance 
claims to recover its money.
   
*Project delays*
    The Dandin Group, a wireless consulting and engineering firm, was 
hired to build the network. The group began by consulting on the network 
in 2005.
    The company has quit work on the project, which was supposed to have 
been up and running by today.
    County officials still don't have an accurate report of equipment 
used in the project, but estimate its worth at around $80,000.
    No records show exactly where the money was spent after being 
distributed to Dandin.
    Hays said the county now believes Dandin CEO Dewayne Hendricks 
defrauded the county for equipment costs and will try to recoup all 
funding Dandin received since 2005.
    Hendricks said in a phone interview Thursday that he had no comment 
regarding Dandin's work on the project because he expected to be sued soon.
    The project, once hailed as cutting-edge technology that would 
thrust Sandoval County into the national spotlight, is supposed to 
deliver cheap ultra-high-speed Internet access for Internet service 
providers across the county.
    The county plans to sell the network to a private company after its 
completion with the condition that all county schools, health facilities 
and emergency services get free access.
    NetLogix, a national wireless consulting firm, was brought in about 
a month ago to review the project and come up with a plan to build it.
    A June 28 report from NetLogix estimates the county will need to 
spend about $950,000 to build the network.
    The majority of that cost, $800,000--- which is 10 times what Dandin 
is estimated to have spent--- would go toward equipment.
    DaVersa said Thursday that, for $1.2 million, Dandin should have 
been able to deliver a top- of-the-line network.
    Instead, he said, the system in place--- which is not working--- 
could only deliver a tenth of the signal strength Dandin had promised.
    "The gear they had up in total brand-new value, from what we saw, is 
(worth) maybe $40,000," DaVersa said.
    DaVersa said that Dandin's system had various kinds of equipment at 
different sites throughout the county but that there was no connection 
between the sites--- which are supposed to beam a wireless signal from 
point to point.
    Hays defended giving the initial contract to Dandin, citing the 
company's resume that includes experience on wireless projects all over 
the world.
    "Dandin's credentials are impeccable ... there was no reason to 
believe otherwise," Hays said Wednesday.
    She said the county believed promises that Hendricks was close to 
finishing the network before he left nearly two months ago.
    "The fact that he didn't complete the project is amazing to me," 
Hays said.
    Hendricks said he left the project after finding out about $252,000 
in unaccounted-for funds in the project.
    He said that poor accounting practices by former project head 
Jonathan Mann made him uneasy and that, after finding out about the 
missing funds, his attorney advised him to leave the project immediately.
    "Things were done with the best of intentions, but, at some point, 
there has to be some accountability," Hendricks said Thursday.
    Mann has said the missing funds were the result of an invoice 
problem caused by Dandin. He said Dandin billed in advance for 
anticipated spending needs and never returned invoices on specific 
purchases after the money had been spent.
    Mann served as the project's head from its inception and acted as 
the first CEO of the Sandoval Broadband company, which in turn 
contracted with Dandin.
    Hendricks was hired in early 2005 to install the network infrastructure.
    Mann left the project in August 2006, and Hendricks became head of 
Sandoval Broadband in January of this year.
    Hendricks resigned as Sandoval Broadband CEO in mid-May, shortly 
after the State Auditor began an investigation.
    He has since left New Mexico to work on a wireless project in 
Vermont and New Hampshire.
    Records show that Dandin was paid about $630,000 between January 
2005 and August 2006 for consulting, engineering and equipment fees.
    From August 2006 to December, when the last check was written, the 
county estimates it paid Dandin an additional $600,000.
    Hendricks said Thursday the number was closer to $250,000 between 
August and December.
    Hays said the county is already pursuing a refund from an insurance 
policy held by Sandoval Broadband, a private company created 
specifically to partner with the county on the project.
    Sandoval Broadband currently has no CEO, board of directors or 
employees.
   
*Still optimistic*
    The broadband project has been marred by delays and vague 
accounting--- including a series of invoices signed off on by Hays with 
little or no detail on how public dollars were being spent.
    Hays has said she approved the invoices because line items of 
technical jargon would have meant nothing to her and she was paying for 
a final product.
    Hays remains optimistic about the project.
    She said that broadband is only six months behind schedule and that 
the overall goal is still within reach. The new deadline for a completed 
network is January.
    The county still has about $400,000 of its original funding, and 
there are federal grants and appropriations for the project coming up, 
Hays said.
    County Commission chair Don Leonard said Thursday that the network 
problem was only a bump in the road and that other aspects of the 
project had gone well.
    Applications associated with the broadband project, such as a new 
education program being tested across the county and an Internet 
post-traumatic stress disorder program, have been going very well on 
pre-existing Internet systems, Hays said.
    The original goal of finishing the project--- complete with numerous 
applications and economic development initiatives--- in 2009 with a 
total price tag of $9 million hasn't changed, she said.
    Leonard said that, when broadband is up and running, it will have 
been worth the wait.
    "I've never felt the project was not a good project," Leonard said.
    Commissioner Bency is focused on attempting to recover the $1.2 
million through legal action or insurance claims.
    "It is my intention to nail them to the wall for breach of 
contract," he said.
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