Contractors, campaign contributions and questions about Broward’s big money runway expansion project
By Dan Christensen
As Broward commissioners prepare to publicly debate the merits of a proposed new ethics code, a county contractor is accusing county officials of unfairly playing politics when handing out multimillion-dollar contracts.
CH2M Hill, the international engineering giant, says it ran into a buzz saw last year when it sought the lucrative job of lead designer for the $810-million expansion of the south runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“I have personally never witnessed such a politicized selection process,” said CH2M Hill President Mark Lasswell in an unusually frank letter to commissioners and staff. CH2M Hill has several other contracts with the county, including a general services contract at Port Everglades.