[1st-mile-nm] County Sues Wi-Fi Contractors $1.2M Spent On Network

[peter]

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

County Sues Wi-Fi Contractors $1.2M Spent On Network

By Rosalie Rayburn <http://www.abqjournal.com/cgi-bin/email_reporter.pl>
Journal Staff Writer
    Sandoval County is suing the two individuals it hired to oversee the 
county's broadband project.
    The lawsuit alleges Dewayne Hendricks and Jonathan Mann 
intentionally deceived the county about their ability to complete the 
project and that they took county money without providing the services 
they promised.
    The lawsuit names Hendricks and his California-based company, the 
Dandin Group, Mann and his company, AQV Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah, 
and Sandoval Broadband Inc., the company which the two men oversaw.
    The county, represented by the Albuquerque law firm of Sutin, Thayer 
& Browne, seeks punitive damages, costs and attorneys fees and whatever 
further relief the court deems proper.
    Hendricks declined to comment on the lawsuit.
    "It's just allegations," he said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
    A Journal phone message left on Mann's cell phone was not returned.
    Sandoval Broadband, originally called Olla Grande, was supposed to 
design and build a countywide broadband network that would provide 
low-cost Internet access to Internet service providers throughout the 
county.
    The county has already paid $1.2 million for the network--- which 
doesn't work.
    The lawsuit was filed last month in 13th Judicial District Court in 
Bernalillo.
    "There were certain deliverables that were not met by the contractor 
and we had to move forward legally," said Sandoval County Commission 
Chairman Don Leonard, in a phone interview on Tuesday.
    The county's allegations against Hendricks and Mann include breach 
of trust, violation of the unfair trade practices act, fraud and unjust 
enrichment.
    Sandoval County hired Mann's company AQV in December 2004 to develop 
a broadband plan for the county. The County Commission approved the plan 
in July 2005, based on Mann's recommendations, according to the lawsuit.
    Low-cost broadband access was supposed to benefit schools, health 
care services and residents throughout the county.
    Mann created Olla Grande, later called Sandoval Broadband, to do the 
work. Olla Grande then hired Hendricks to help Mann.
    Hendricks' job was to design, engineer, purchase and install all 
necessary equipment for the deployment of the broadband network.
    According to court documents, Hendricks and Mann intentionally made 
false and misleading oral and written representations to the county 
about their credentials and their ability to provide an operational 
broadband network.
    They, or one of their companies, billed the county for goods and 
services they didn't provide, the lawsuit alleges. In some cases, it 
contends, they billed the county for new equipment and installed used 
equipment instead.
    The county relied in good faith on the "false and misleading" oral 
and written statements and representations by Hendricks and Mann to hire 
them and pay invoices for goods and services they submitted.
    "Defendants used exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity as to material 
facts regarding the goods to be provided and the services to be 
performed under the Contracts with the intent to deceive the County, and 
in did in fact deceive the County," the lawsuit alleges.
    The county maintains its reliance was "justifiable and reasonable 
under the circumstances."
    Despite a demand by the county, Hendricks and Mann or their 
companies have refused to complete the broadband network, according to 
the lawsuit.
    It also alleges that they have not returned any of the county's 
money or property purchased for the network, which the county paid for.
    The defendants' breach of good faith was done "willfully and 
maliciously", resulting in harm to the county and its citizens, the 
lawsuit alleges.
    As of Tuesday, the defendants had not filed a response.
    Independent communications experts raised serious questions about 
the ability of Hendricks and Mann to deliver on their promises more than 
a year ago, according to published news reports.
    The reports say Sandoval County officials steadfastly defended the 
project and their hiring choices.
    Mann left the project in August 2006. Hendricks quit in May this year.
    The state auditor launched an investigation into the broadband 
project in February.
    The County Commission recently selected NetLogix, a national 
wireless consulting firm, to take over the project.
    The commission also approved hiring CH2M Hill to provide design, 
engineering and implementation services for the project.
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