Contracts, Race Bred WSSC Rift

The commission surreptitiously tried to fire General Manager John R. Griffin as tensions came to a head last February.

What critics called a classic "good ol' boys network" was supposed to be dismantled in 1979 when WSSC adopted the state's minority business program. Ever since, the agency has been tugged by competing factions.

Griffin's arrival heralded promise for Phillips. He promoted her and increased her staff and resources. But soon, he said, she started trying to undermine him .

Phillips acknowledges cultivating political contacts to help expand her influence. She was active in fundraising for Johnson, attended his inaugural gala and served on a "transition team" he formed to improve conditions at WSSC.

She tried to work within the rules, she said, to force managers to loosen the clout long enjoyed by white-owned companies. She urged agency officials to break up large contracts into smaller ones, so minority companies could compete. In one instance, she asked them to alter bid specifications for a pipe cleaning contract, so a smaller concern, Stillwater Septic Service of Lusby, could bid against larger, mostly white-owned competitors.

"WSSC is such a tough nut to crack," Phillips said. "It takes years and years for a minority to get . . . entree into the process."

Managers resented her tactics and started slicing away much of her office's autonomy, asking her to send concerns about contracts to them, rather than directly to commissioners. The rift between Griffin and Phillips widened in 2003 when 11 employees, Phillips among them, complained of racial discrimination. In June, she and the others turned to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Phillips alleged that her performance reviews were delayed, blocking merit raises. The EEOC dismissed the complaints a year later, saying it was unable to conclude that any laws were broken.

In a separate discrimination lawsuit, Phillips alleges that when she confronted Griffin, he called her the "pied piper for the black people at the commission."

In an interview, Griffin denied making the remark. The suit is pending in Prince George's Circuit Court.

As these disputes persisted, expenses mounted. To date, WSSC has spent more than $220,000 on outside attorneys to handle the EEOC case and has budgeted an additional $150,000 for appeals -- a figure that could grow, the commission was told.

During the summer, commissioners cited legal costs when explaining a 3 percent rate increase. It added $12 to $15 to the average annual bill, bringing it to $254.88 for a family of three. In Los Angeles, by comparison, a family of the same size would pay about $203.16 a year.

Some WSSC managers also have blamed Phillips's office for obstructing maintenance of an aging water and sewer system. In 2002, when a white-owned company that provided regular pipe maintenance was unable to find a qualified minority firm for subcontracting, as required by contract, the minority business office refused to waive the requirement. No contract has been awarded, records show. It will cost an additional $1.5 million for the utility to catch up on that maintenance, officials estimate.

In February, according to agency managers, the minority business office delayed the purchase of a key chemical additive, putting public safety at risk. For several years, WSSC obtained the chemical from the same low bidder, Delta Chemical Co., a woman-owned firm in Baltimore.

Delta had been unable to find qualified minority truckers in the past, but had been excused from the requirement. This time Phillips declined, she said, because the firm did not make a "good faith" effort to contact minority vendors, including seven on a list she compiled.

Among the companies that Phillips's office recommended to do the transport were two local companies. Both offered to solve Delta's dilemma by joining as subcontractors for a price, even though they would do no work. Delta refused.