Port officials adopting reforms on contracting procedures.

Amid ongoing federal and local investigations, officials at L.A.'s harbor and airport departments have been working on new policies designed to better document how and why companies are approved for contracts.

Under the port's proposal, still in draft form, the availability of certain leases would be publicly announced, as opposed to the recent practice of negotiating leases in private.

While the draft has not yet been approved by the Board of Harbor Commissioners, port officials have issued a request for proposals for a five-year lease to the container terminal at berths 206-209, which had been negotiated behind closed doors late last year.

Meanwhile, the commissioners approved a resolution late last month to tape-record closed-door sessions, which previously were documented only with briefly noted agenda items. The recordings document conversations in those meetings but are not available to the public.

At the airport, a policy was recently implemented requiring officials to use rating sheets consistently when evaluating the proposals of contractors, and then document why a contractor was selected.

The incremental changes at both departments come as federal and county prosecutors subpoena officials as part of an investigation into allegations of "pay-to-play" in city contracting. "Everyone is calling for reform and accountability in our major proprietary departments," said City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a member of the audits and governmental efficiency committee. "It's made an impression on reform and accountability, which is happening slowly but surely."

City Controller Laura Chick, whose audits of the port and airport last year initiated calls for change, sees the recent developments as a "good sign."

"Creating a lease policy and starting to have more accountability is a step in the right direction," she said. "We have a long way still to go. We're not done. I don't think the culture has changed. They're starting to change their behavior."

The changes at both departments are separate from recommendations expected to come out of Mayor James Hahn's Blue Ribbon Commission, which is reviewing "best practices" contracting at the proprietary departments.

"It is my hope that when the Blue Ribbon Commission reviews our contracting, they will look at these items as a positive step," said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who heads the audits and governmental efficiency committee.

When Chick released the original audit of the port in June 2003, officials disputed the cost of a court settlement over the China Shipping terminal. In recent weeks, Harbor Commission President Nick Tonsich has questioned the accuracy of auditors' interviews with port staff, as well.

The crux of the audit, which criticized officials for negotiating multimillion-dollar shipping leases in closed-door meetings, has remained unchanged, Chick said.

"(Executive Director) Larry Keller is still insisting a lease is not a contract, and they're still negotiating shipping leases predominantly behind closed doors," she said in an earlier interview. "We're tracking it because we see it on their agenda."

Port Commissioner James Acevedo said port officials have not discussed whether to consider leases contracts, which he called "different animals." But in response to a separate recommendation in Chick's audit, the Board of Harbor Commissioners on April 28 approved a resolution to tape-record closed-door meetings.

At the same meeting, the board was updated on the status of its new negotiation policy.

"I've not seen a significant change," Acevedo said of the new policy. "But there have been things that have come to light that say, 'Do you start RFPing leases? It's tough to do, but we're attempting it with this particular leap."

At the airport, Chief Operating Officer Paul Green notified senior officials in an April 5 letter of the new contracting procedures, which were made effective immediately. Paul Haney, deputy executive director of public and community relations, said commissioners likely would not see the effects of the changes until they meet on June 7.

Upon the release of Chick's audit late last year, Los Angeles World Airports officials bristled at the conclusions. In January, airport Commissioner Peter Weil called the audit biased and recommended the commission hire its own auditor to review business practices.

Haney called Weil's terminology "unfortunate" and said the airport only plans to conduct a review of its "process re-engineering," not another audit.