Audit: Tampa Road Unit Created 'Conflict' by Tapping HNTB Executive
It was only a temporary appointment and the last thing the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority needed was more controversy. But that is what it sparked when it named James E. Drapp, vice president and officer-in-charge of HNTB’s Tampa office, as the authority’s interim executive director to oversee day-to-day construction and engineering operations.
A report issued Nov. 29th by the Florida Auditor General says that the appointment created a conflict of interest and that the authority should clarify the appointment and the duties of the interim executive director. HNTB had already been serving as the toll agency’s general engineering consultant and has been paid $4.66 million under its contract since Jan. 2005.
The authority’s general counsel replied that the authority’s board had not given Drapp “any additional duties or responsibilities” that he did not already have as general engineering consultant, according to the audit report.