DISORDER IN THE COURT; COUNTY WASTED BUILDING FUNDS, AUDITOR FINDS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles County mismanaged its decade-old courthouse construction program and spent nearly $20 million on five projects that likely will never be built, a state audit released Tuesday indicates.

The report by Auditor Kurt Sjoberg criticizes the county for pursuing courthouses in North Hollywood, West Los Angeles, the South Bay, Santa Monica and Pasadena although officials knew as early as 1991 that there wasn't enough money to complete them.

``Five of these courthouse projects have scant chance of being built, yet the county spent $18.6 million on them - $9.9 million for planning and design, money from which it will derive no benefit, and $8.7 million for land that now sits idle,'' Sjoberg wrote.

His report also blasts county officials for costly overruns on projects in Lancaster, one of three places where courthouses are in the planning stage.

For example, a $6.6 million contract for the Antelope Valley Courthouse should have resulted in completed schematic, design and construction documents. Instead, the county spend the entire amount for schematic and design plans, and now will have to pay an estimated $5.2 million more for the construction documents, the report stated.

These types of overruns have helped drive up the cost of the Antelope Valley Courthouse from $42.7 million to $92 million.

The audit was requested in June 1997 by Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, as he fought for a courthouse to alleviate the crippling lack of courtroom space in the Antelope Valley. His efforts were stymied by a priority system that allows the Legislature to determine where local courthouses are built and a critical lack of money for financing the projects.

The audit confirmed what county officials reported this spring - that they had spent nearly $80 million over the last 10 years but didn't have a single new courtroom to show for it.

``Looking backward at the construction program, clearly decisions were made that ended up wasting money,'' Sjoberg said in a phone interview. ``We think had the county, particularly in the early years in the program, been more vigilant in management and oversight, it could have saved more than $10 million that we feel were wasted.''

County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen defended the courthouse construction program, noting that 133 courtrooms have been built since it began. With the addition of courthouses in Lancaster, Chatsworth and near Los Angeles International Airport, the total will rise to 172, at a cost of $400 million.

``My position is we consider the program to have been tremendously successful,'' Janssen said.

He conceded that there were problems in the early 1990s, but said the Board of Supervisors dealt with them when it transferred management of capital projects from the Internal Services Department to the Public Works Department and Janssen's office.

``It was a combination of various courts making demands on administrators that they couldn't afford, people wanting to build everything all at once, and no central guidance system to help determine what should be done,'' he said.

Janssen, who was named CAO just two years ago, refused to speculate on why his predecessors did not heed warnings that there wasn't enough money for the projects.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich was critical of the audit, objecting to its finding that the state's priority system had no role in the courthouse fiasco.

``For the auditor to conclude that the tier system had no impact on courthouse planning and construction is factually incorrect,'' Antonovich said in a written statement.

He also disagreed with the auditor's assessment that money was wasted on plans and designs.

``Just because we have drawn the plans does not make them a waste,'' the supervisor's spokesman said. ``They have to be modified. It doesn't make it worthless.''

The auditor's report noted that `the county has taken corrective action, but said it is too early to say whether that action has been effective. Runner said he will ask the auditor to make that assessment.

Runner attributed the county's problem to attempts by county staffers to please every supervisor and his or her constituents.

``The problem is there is such a temptation to try to please everybody,'' he said. ``You can't do that with limited funds. The county needs to make priority decisions on what is best and right for the county and stick to it.''

Sjoberg said he was unable to pin the poor management of the courthouse construction program on any one person or department, citing a collective decision-making process and ``too many involved layers and too many people.''

``We did not find it constructive nor possible to identify that a single person was responsible,'' he said. ``These were for the most part collective decisions. ``The decisions were just driven by an overly ambitious plan initially.''

Court chronology 

The following is a chronology of Los Angeles County courthouse projects:

1984: County master plan calls for building several new courthouses to handle growth, involving facilities in the Antelope Valley, Chatsworth, North Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Whittier and Long Beach.

1989: The state Legislature approves funding for several courthouses, including a $37 million facility in Chatsworth and a $42.7 million facility in the Antelope Valley. Chatsworth ranks higher than the Antelope Valley on the construction priority list.

March 1990: Seven companies submit proposals to build a new Antelope Valley courthouse on 10 acres of county land near Avenue M and Fourth Street West in Lancaster. The courthouse would have 15 courtrooms and offices for 21 judges.

August 1990: County supervisors vote to negotiate for nine acres at Winnetka Avenue and Plummer Street in Chatsworth. Despite vocal opposition from neighbors, the site is finalized in December 1990.`

March 1992: County officials say the Antelope Valley Courthouse now could cost $80 million because of inflation, major design changes and construction of a parking structure. Cost of the Chatsworth facility soars to $97 million.

December 1993: Memo from county CAO Sally Reed says the county has run out of money for courthouse projects outlined in the 1984 master plan. She recommends that work proceed only on the courthouses in Chatsworth and West Los Angeles because they were farther along in the planning process.

Jan. 12, 1994: County supervisors give the go-ahead to Chatsworth and West Los Angeles courthouses, putting Antelope Valley, North Hollywood and six other projects on hold. Officials say $23.2 million has been spent to date on West Angeles project, $18 million on Chatsworth facility and $5.8 million on Antelope Valley project.

Jan. 17, 1994: The Northridge Earthquake hits, effectively halting all capital construction projects. Tougher seismic standards are passed, requiring major revisions of courthouse construction plans.

June 1997: Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, calls for audit of Los Angeles County courtroom construction projects. He notes that $10.8 million has been spent to date on Antelope Valley Courthouse construction designs, although no plan has yet been finalized.

December 1997: Runner introduces a bill to eliminate the state courthouse priority system and let county supervisors choose which facility should be built first. Anticipating a lack of support, he later withdraws the measure.

March 1998: County officials say they have spent $79 million on planning and design for courthouse projects, none of which has been completed. Supervisors haggle over whether the Antelope Valley facility should be moved ahead of Chatsworth's on the priority list. The board approves paying a $4.6 million settlement to the developer of the Chatsworth site, who filed a claim over thousands of county-ordered design changes. Supervisors also say they will tr`y to find $4 million to accelerate design of the Antelope Valley project.

July 1998: Supervisors approve spending $5.2 million to complete Antelope Valley Courthouse plans. Revised estimates say construction will begin in 18 months and be completed by 2003. State audit criticizes the county for mismanaging courthouse construction. It notes that county has spent $79 million since 1988 on eight incomplete courthouse projects and $18.6 million on five projects - in North Hollywood, West Los Angeles, the South Bay, Santa Monica and Pasadena - that have scant chance of being built.

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Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) The lack of space at the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster, built in 1963, has prompted the push for a new facility.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News

BOX: COURT CHRONOLOGY (See text)