PANEL SEEKS PROBE OF DELAYED AIR-CONDITIONER UPGRADES.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

Members of a citizens oversight committee on Wednesday called for investigation into what has caused air-conditioning installation delays at 48 San Fernando Valley schools.

And while the Los Angeles Unified School District's business czar said little can be done about past problems, he wants to ensure future, contracts include financial penalty clauses for such foul-ups.

``There was a substantial lack of clarity about who was responsible for what in the air-conditioning project,'' said David Koch. ``I can't fix what happened, but I can fix what happens in the future.''

The delays have left school campuses such as Birmingham High School in shambles, including holes carved out of classroom ceilings awaiting air-conditioning units that won't arrive until October and November. Some schools promised air conditioning by Sept. 8 won't be cooled until January.

At least a dozen Valley schools supposed to be air-conditioned under Proposition BB missed the deadline because the large construction management company in charge of all bond work failed to order units in bulk as promised, according to Dennis Martinez, program manager of 3D/I-O'Brien Kreitzberg.

``I would see purchase orders, 10 or 20 - big piles of paper - and think we were doing what we needed to do,'' Martinez said.

It wasn't until the spring, when promised units were not arriving, that Martinez realized the majority of orders had not been placed.

Of the approximately 1,000 units his firm was to have ordered - one-third of all units needed - only 137 were requested, according to documents obtained by the Daily News.

Martinez could not pinpoint the reason, but said there were many contributing factors. Before the order could be made, officials from his company had to speak to engineers who had drawn the air-conditioning plans to ensure the units purchased by the LAUSD would fit their specifications. Ordering was delayed again when the district halted all air-conditioning work, while LAUSD officials were negotiating to turn over all of the work to a single outside contractor.

And, while there was a person responsible for ordering the units, three different people occupied the position in a matter of months, Martinez said.

Martinez conceded that the firm somehow overlooked the need to order the units.

Martinez said ``it would have been nice'' if the air-conditioning manufacturer had alerted 3D/I-O'Brien Kreitzberg that the orders had not been placed, but agreed that in the end, it was his firm's responsibility.

Steve Soboroff, chairman of the Proposition BB Citizens Oversight Committee said he was glad Martinez had acknowledged some of the blame, but said it shouldn't have happened.

``These guys did huge jobs in New York and Chicago, they should know how to order equipment,'' Soboroff said. ``It's very upsetting; we need to get to the root of what happened.''

Soboroff said he wished the penalties and incentive contract had been in place, because they could use it now to fine the company.

Martinez said there were delays with a good portion of the 2,000 other air conditioners ordered by individual contractors.