Why does this not surprise me? Or you?

For those who don't know, "UC" in California is shorthand for the "University of California" (Riverside campus in this case - they have 10 campuses). And as some of you know, I caught on to the roofing and other scams at UC (San Francisco). Here's the story:

UC Riverside official is indicted in bribery case

January 25, 2007

A UC Riverside administrator was indicted Wednesday on federal charges of soliciting and receiving several bribes from the contractor in charge of constructing the university's psychology building.

Theodore Chiu, 53, an associate director of the Office of Design and Construction, solicited a $50,000 bribe from Irvine contractor FTR International Inc. on Oct. 31, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

From: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/25/local/me-iebriefs25.2

And some ask, why do you say you are not surprised - just that the guy got caught?

I worked in an over 800 employees Facilities Dept. at UCSF. A retired Contracts Manager told me in May, 2001 "Janet, EVERYBODY was involved!" with regards to kickbacks - and laughing at me and describing who got what....just a tiny portion of it. She had lied to FBI Agents in the summer of 1997 - causing unutterable hell for myself and others.

Or the head of the Building Managers at UCSF telling me they were getting "payola" - twice - in December 1996, and that was why I was not being allowed to do normal contract specifications (three or equal products listed.) Which sent me to the FBI - with doctors on campus urging me to do so.....

Or maybe why a certain manager at my job showing up with a 4-door Mercedes Sedan fully loaded after a new fire alarm system went into the hospitals on campus....with many a gawker at the window looking down into the parking lot asking him if it was his. When I walked up, I asked him the same, said it was nice, and he looked upset that I had noticed.....and I never saw the car again.....draw your own conclusions.

Or maybe why the HVAC subcontractor, John Karamanos with HVAC Sales out of San Jose, CA in theSF Weekly article with myself, was able to prove that UC Davis and UC San Francisco guys were receiving gratuities - including golfing gratuities - for the sole-sourcing of overpriced bundling of mechanical equipment in specs. In fact, John Karamanos has sued Norman S. Wright (Chinese-owned) sub out of Brisbane (San Francisco County), CA, for over $100 million in overcharges in ten years for doing so in schools & hospitals and public work all over the San Francisco Bay Area.

The part that is even worse than the expenditures was the illegal sole-sourcing of Phoenix Air Controls, which air valves were proved by a Texas manufacturer/mechanical engineer, Swiki Anderson, to be leaking 30% - and installed in hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area (and all over the US). Wonder how that affects infection & death rates from infections in hospitals? We were told that the Phoenix Air Control Valves(tested leaking 30%) were being charged out at $10,000 apiece, while the better products (100% effective), were $1,000 apiece.

Got the picture?

It's not uncommon to see a head of a dept., the intermediate manager and the design engineer or architect involved....just look around you - and never trust.

In the San Ramon Valley Schools, Contra Costa County, San Francisco Bay Area, California

At a time when educational budgets - and government budgets - are collapsing all over the US, and with one town in the county in question declaring bankruptcy, the smile-in-your-face-while-we-steal-from-you-blind guys have reached a new high.

Or should I say, low.

Just take a look at the pricing given by a widely-known set of relatives working for Garland Roofing in the San Francisco Bay Area, to the local school district for San Ramon Valley Schools (east bay suburbs, east over the mountains from Fremont/Hayward area).

The Garland Ply Sheets? 43 times the cost of the comparable Johns-Manville product (for example).

The Garland Cap Sheets? 21 times the cost of the comparable Johns-Manville product (for example). Click on the picture below to see the pricing.

Now that you have seen it, you make your own conclusions.

For a recap of the Johns Manville costs for the same BUR products (note that the J-M products are sometimes used in lieu of the Garland products on roofs in the SF Bay Area, without lowering the prices and giving the taxpayer the break on their dollar, as in the huge US Postal Service's Distribution Center, for one....):

J-M Base Sheet: $ 27 for 3 squares

J-M Ply Sheets: $ 35.63 for 5 squares

J-M Cap Sheet: $ 21 for 1 square

Pea Gravel: $10/bag, at 4 bags/1 square

Trumbull Type 3 Asphalt: $35 for a 100 pound carton

To recap the letter above, Garland's products compare as follows:

Garland Ply Sheets: $314 for 1 square
To compare, for 1 square of J-M, it is $35.63 for 5 squares, or $7.13 per square. Just think if the J-M product is installed instead - a profit of 4,304%.

Garland Cap Sheet: $332 - that's right - for 3/4 square
To compare, for 1 square, $442.67, which is 21 times the price of J-M at $21 per 1 square. Just think of that price for a J-M product installed instead - a profit of 2,000%.

Question: How soon since the last roofing job is this one being redone?

Question: How soon will this roof "need" to be redone?

Question: Was an independent, Registered Roof Consultant and independent testing lab used to test the existing roof?

Question: Will the Garland roof last 43 times as long as the J-M roof?

Question: Why the Engineering Services fee?

And last question but not all: Did the Architect or Engineer receive errors and omissions indemnification for specifying Garland?