The March 26 firing of Fargo Public Works Director Al Weigel for awarding his business partners what examiners said was essentially a no-bid contract has prompted some critics to take aim at his boss, City Administrator Pat Zavoral, whose brothers' construction company built dikes in Fargo during the '09 flood.
Phone calls to The Forum and reader comments posted online with stories about Weigel have called into question Zavoral's relationship with R.J. Zavoral & Sons Inc. of East Grand Forks, Minn.
Zavoral's late father founded the company in 1951, and his brothers now operate it.
Zavoral said that while he has no ownership stake in the company, he has asked his brothers not to bid on Fargo city projects to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest.
"I live in a glass house as it is," he said. "Why would I want to put myself in that position?"
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The company hasn't done any work for the city of Fargo since at least 1997, according to a search of city records. That's the year Zavoral became city administrator, and it's also how far back the vendor records go in the city's computerized accounting system.
"They're not even a vendor in our vendor accounts payable system," City Finance Director Kent Costin said of the company.
R.J. Zavoral & Sons did earthwork in Fargo during the 2009 spring flood, but the company was hired on an emergency basis by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, not the city. The corps hired the firm at the height of the flood fight, when virtually every local contractor was busy building levees, said Tim Bertschi, area flood engineer for the corps.
"We were reaching out to try and grab everybody we could," he said.
R.J. Zavoral & Sons has a history with the corps, helping to fight floods in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks and to build the cities' permanent flood protection levees.
Bertschi said he heard some grumbling from local contractors about why R.J. Zavoral & Sons was in Fargo and whether Pat Zavoral had anything to do with it, but he said city officials have no input on who's hired by the corps office in St. Paul.
"We tell them who our contractor is, rather than them telling us, so there's really no connection whatsoever to that," he said. "We have our federal rules, which are pretty rigid."
R.J. Zavoral & Sons didn't do any corps work in Fargo during this year's flood fight, but it helped build dikes as a subcontractor in Oakport Township north of Moorhead, Bertschi said.
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Company President Peter Zavoral said he doesn't rule out bidding on projects in Fargo, but in recent years the corps hasn't had a lot of work in Fargo that fits the company's profile.
As for his brother Pat, he said, "I don't think you're going to find anybody more careful about how he conducts business than my brother because he knows he's got to set the standard."
Some online comments brought up that Pat Zavoral's son, Jim, works for the city's Solid Waste Department.
Zavoral said he had no role in the hiring of his son, saying he applied for the job and "was a candidate like everybody else."
The city's employment policy doesn't restrict more than one member of a family from working for the city. For example, as Zavoral noted, Fargo Fire Chief Bruce Hoover's son is also a Fargo firefighter.
To avoid conflicts of interest, city policy states that no employee may be a direct supervisor of a family member or take part in decisions to hire, retain, promote or set the salary of his or her spouse, family member or legal relative.
Pat Zavoral said the comments being posted about him are "just the nature of the beast."
"We're dealing with a situation right now. We've got people calling in about potholes and saying that we're killing people," he said. "So, I mean, if they're taking shots at me, that's the least of my worry."
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
