A timeline of Sinanian Devlopment Inc.'s interaction with the Los Angeles Community College District
Created by CaliforniaWatch on Jun 28, 2010
Last updated: 07/20/10 at 04:14 PM
When the Los Angeles Community College District won approval to use the design-build method, officials hired Sinanian Development again after the company owner promised to improve work. The company won a $23 million design-build contract for a new athletic complex at Los Angeles Mission College even though Larry Eisenberg, the district’s executive director of facilities planning, had told trustees that a contractor like Sinanian could be avoided under the new approach. Read LACCD Board of Trustees Facilities Planning and Development report
Sinanian Development and the company’s, CEO Sinan Sinanian, collectively donated a total of $2,500 to the election campaign of Angela Reddock, a trustee who lost her re-election bid. The company and its CEO donated a total of $14,000 to the election campaigns of four trustees. Read Campaign finance disclosures for Friends of Angela Reddock committee (Pages 14, 42, 203) Photo: Angela Reddock
Sinanian Development donated $1,000 to the election campaign of trustee Nancy Pearlman. The company and its CEO donated a total of $14,000 to the election campaigns of four trustees. Read Campaign Finance Disclosures for Nancy Pearlman for College Board Reelection Committee (Page 17) Photo: Nancy Pearlman
Sinan Sinanian, the owner of Sinanian Development, donated $500 to the election campaign of trustee Kelly Candaele. The company and its CEO donated a total of $14,000 to the election campaigns of four trustees. Read Campaign Finance Disclosures for Candaele for College Trustee (Page 176) Photo: Kelly Candaele
Sinanian Development and the company’s CEO, Sinan Sinanian, collectively donated $10,000 to the election campaign of trustee Miguel Santiago. The company and its CEO donated a total of $14,000 to the election campaigns of four trustees. Read Campaign Finance Disclosures for Friends of Miguel Santiago (Page 12) Photo: Miguel Santiago
One month after Sinanian Development’s campaign contributions started arriving, the Family and Consumer Studies building contract at Los Angeles Mission College was back on the consent calendar for the Aug. 20, 2008, board meeting. Sinanian’s bid again came in as the lowest – $2.7 million less than the firm’s earlier bid. The day of the meeting, CEO Sinan Sinanian came before the board. Meeting minutes indicate that he told trustees he was committed to improving his company’s work. The board approved the $37 million contract with Sinanian Development. Read the LACCD Board of Trustees meeting minutes (Pages 5-6)
Sinanian Development contributed $75,000 to Measure J, the Los Angeles Community College District’s $3.5 billion bond measure. Read Campaign Disclosure Statements for "Yes on Measure J" campaign (Page 81)
At a July 2008 board meeting, Executive Director of Facilities Planning Larry Eisenberg, who manages the district’s nearly $6 billion construction program, told trustees that he and Build LACCD program director James Sohn met with Sinan Sinanian to talk about his approach, and Sinanian “pledged they would ‘step up the quality’ of their work,” records show. Eisenberg also announced that the Family and Consumer Studies building at Los Angeles Mission College – which Sinanian won in June – would be rebid. Read the LACCD Board of Trustees meeting minutes (Page 8) Photo: Larry Eisenberg
Sinanian Development was poised to win its sixth multimillion-dollar job, the Family and Consumer Studies building at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar. Los Angeles Community College District trustees Georgia Mercer and Sylvia Scott-Hayes pulled the contract from the consent calendar during a June 2008 meeting. They said the district had had issues with Sinanian and the contract should be discussed. Read the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees Facilities Planning and Development report Photo: Mercer (left) and Scott-Hayes
Sinanian Development submitted the lowest bid for the Family and Consumer Studies building at Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar. Preliminary Bid Tab for Family and Consumer Sciences Building
“LACC has had (and continues) to babysit Sinanian in all construction aspects, including QC, from the very beginning for the good of the project,” Los Angeles Community College District deputy director of inspections Frank Alaniz wrote in a February 2008 e-mail. “Sinanian has three major projects at City, Pierce and West (maybe more in the way?). Should we be concerned?” Read the email exchange
The Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees approved a contract with Sinanian Development to build the General Classroom and Student Services building at West Los Angeles College for $43 million. Read the Facilities Planning and Development Agenda
The Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees approved a contract with Sinanian Development to build the Science and Math building at West Los Angeles College for $38 million. Read the Facilities Planning and Development Agenda
The Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees approved a contract with Sinanian Development to build the Center for the Sciences at Pierce College for $40 million. Read the Facilities Planning and Development agenda
The Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees approved a contract with Sinanian Development to build the Science and Technology building at Los Angeles City College for $32 million. Read the Facilities Planning and Development Agenda
Sinanian Development paid $15,000 in fines and back wages in 2006 after an investigation by the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement found the company had underpaid laborers and carpenters on Pacific Court Affordable Living Apartments, an affordable housing project in Santa Monica. Sinanian initially was assessed back wages and penalties totaling $21,920.12, but the company ultimately settled the case for $15,039.36. Read the Penalty Review from Division of Labor Standards Enforcement
Sinanian Development Inc. won its first contract with the Los Angeles Community College District in 2006.
http://www.build-laccd.org
Sinanian Development was the lowest bidder on a project to build the Martin Luther King Jr. Library at Los Angeles City College in April 2006. The company bid $16.6 million, about $200,000 less than the next-lowest bidder.
Read the bid tabulation for the Martin Luther King Jr. Library
http://www.lacitycollege.edu/resource/library/index.html
The Carpenters-Contractors Cooperation Committee, a nonprofit watchdog group that monitors labor practices, filed several complaints against Sinanian or its subcontractors with the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. One of the many complaints was filed Oct. 25, 2005. Read Carpenters-Contractors Cooperation Committee complaint against 1-AMD Construction
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