Republican attack ads blast Randy Perkins’ company

Oct. 28--Randy Perkins touts his disaster-recovery company as a success story in his congressional campaign, but it's been embroiled in controversy and legal problems over the years.

Perkins parlayed his lawn maintenance business into one of the nation's largest privately held debris cleanup companies, AshBritt Environmental Inc., after getting a small contract to clean up after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

But with the company's success came accusations that Perkins overcharged the federal government, stiffed a consultant and subcontractors and used campaign donations to influence politicians to give him no-bid government contracts. Perkins, his company and his employees have given at least $2 million to Democrats and Republicans since 2001.

Perkins and AshBritt weren't convicted of any criminal wrongdoing, but the company's troubles have become fodder for attack ads by Republican groups. Perkins is in a dead heat with Republican Brian Mast for the Treasure Coast-Palm Beach congressional seat that U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, is leaving to run against Marco Rubio for Senate. About a week before filing to run as a Democrat, Perkins was registered with no party affiliation but had strong ties to the GOP.

AshBritt scored federal and state contracts to clean up after disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. It also got hired to remove debris from Hurricane Matthew in Martin and St. Lucie counties; Charleston, South Carolina; and other Florida and Georgia communities. Perkins said he has contracts with more than 300 U.S. communities, from California to tornado-prone regions in the Midwest.

Whether he wins or loses the election, Perkins said he will divest himself from the company by Dec. 31. If he loses, he'll work for the company's charity foundation.

Congressional investigation

A 2006 congressional investigation into fraud and waste in the Hurricane Katrina cleanup found AshBritt's $500 million contracts were considered wasteful and mismanaged. Ashbritt charged the federal government 44 percent more than a local contractor testified he would have charged. The resulting House minority report found "the people doing the actual work were paid just a fraction of the contract price." The company paid subcontractors on average $10 of the $23 AshBritt was paid per cubic yard, according to the report.

Perkins' political donations to the Republican Party, which controlled Congress and the White House at the time, and his team of lobbyists were scrutinized.

AshBritt and three other companies were selected from 22 bidders based on past performance, price and ability to subcontract with small and disadvantaged businesses, the corps reportedly has said. Perkins told Treasure Coast Newspapers his company wouldn't be allowed to have federal contracts anymore if any agencies had found it committed wrongdoing. He also said Democrats, as the minority party, were politically motivated to pursue the investigation.

"These prices were deemed reasonable by the Corps of Engineers when they selected our company," Perkins said.

CBS: Lion's share of Katrina money went to politically connected AshBritt.

Lawsuits

Subcontractors claimed in more than a dozen lawsuits that AshBritt didn't pay them all or part of the money they were owed for Katrina cleanup work they did in Mississippi. AshBritt and the plaintiffs settled most cases -- confidentially.

With 700 to 800 subcontractors hired to perform various services after Katrina, it's not uncommon to have disputes, Perkins said.

"When you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on subcontract agreements and paying subcontractors, you're ultimately going to have disputes with your subcontractors," he said.

That's true, but disputes between contractors and subcontractors typically are settled without the need for a lawsuit, said Paul Boudreaux, a Stetson University College of Law professor who specializes in property law.

AshBritt also was a co-defendant in an unrelated lawsuit brought by former Ambassador Lewis Lucke. The suit accused AshBritt and partner GB Group of breaching their contract and owing Lucke $492,000 for consulting services in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Lucke signed a $30,000-per-month consulting contract with Perkins to help the Haitian Recovery Group, created by AshBritt and GB Group, navigate government contracts in Haiti and to introduce Perkins to key officials. After two months of payments, Perkins told Lucke he would terminate the contract.

Lucke claimed he helped Haitian Recovery Group land two $10 million contracts, and was supposed to get a bonus for helping securing contracts worth more than $6 million. Lucke and the companies reached a confidential settlement in early 2011, about two months after it was filed. Perkins' campaign declined to comment on the case.

New Jersey scandal

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration awarded AshBritt a no-bid contract to clean up after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Before that, AshBritt had hired a lobbying firm founded by former Mississippi Gov. Harley Barbour, whom Christie called a "mentor."

Christie faced intense public outcry for granting Perkins the contract and for not using enough local contractors. The issue became the subject of a special legislative hearing. Christie also faced a federal investigation, which found he didn't break any laws.

Yet critics claimed AshBritt benefited from its inside connections in the Christie administration. AshBritt charged towns $21.25 per cubic yard to gather roadside debris, nearly double the $11.70 asking price of another Florida company, according to a 2013 Asbury Park Press review of municipal bills.

Perkins said Christie skipped the time-consuming bidding process because he had to act fast in light of the devastation, and the contract was modeled after a Connecticut contract AshBritt won after bidding.

"You're talking about an area that's the most densely populated in this entire country, where gas lines were ruptured," Perkins said.

Issues with contractors

Perkins' issues extend beyond AshBritt. Two contractors accused Perkins and his wife, Saily, of not paying for part of the work the contractors performed at the couple's Broward County home.

Kitchen Art of South FL filed a 2001 lien against Perkins' property for $43,000 in materials and services the company performed from July to December 2000, of which $3,600 weren't paid by March 2001. Livingston Landscaping filed a 2003 lien for $1,600 it said Perkins owed on an $8,300 bill for landscaping work.

Perkins' campaign declined to answer why he didn't pay for the service, but he told Politico in August he had a contract dispute with the kitchen company and an issue with the landscaping company over a dead tree. It's unclear whether Perkins paid the debt, but both liens had been lifted by the time Perkins sold the house.

Rags to riches

Still, Perkins points to AshBritt as a shining example of how he could apply his business skills in Congress.

Perkins boasts that AshBritt pays 100 percent of its employees' health insurance and has transferred about 25 percent of the company's shares to some of them.

AshBritt is central to his rags-to-riches campaign story, as he said he was a father who once relied on food stamps. Today the company has branched out to provide demolition services, as well as environmental mitigation and public works services.

"I'm a problem solver," he said during a debate this month. "I've been doing it my whole life. I know how to work with people."

___

(c)2016 Treasure Coast Newspapers (Stuart, Fla.)

Visit the Treasure Coast Newspapers (Stuart, Fla.) at www.tcpalm.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.