Six city officials, including Mayor John Street, were subpoenaed by City Controller Jonathan Saidel on Tuesday for information regarding faulty turf at the Veterans Stadium and a city contract with Southwest Recreational Industries.
Southwest was granted a $1.8 million contract last year to install the artificial surface NeXturf at Veterans Stadium. However, drainage problems caused the surface to become uneven, forcing the cancellation of the Eagles' preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
Although state law requires the city to seek several bidders in a large contract, Southwest was awarded a no-bid contract.
According to Deputy City Controller Tony Radwanski, the subpoenas were served after a letter from Saidel to Street, the stadium director and various city officials went unanswered.
"Last Wednesday afternoon, Jonathan Saidel sent Mayor Street a letter, with copies to these other officials, asking for any and all information in their possession relating to the new surface at the Vet," Radwanski said.
Saidel asked that the information be provided by Monday, but received no response.
The subpoena deadline of 3 p.m. Wednesday was met by all six officials. The controller's office will begin reviewing the documents Thursday.
However, according to Luz Cardenas, Street's spokeswoman, the mayor did not receive the initial letter until last Thursday, and thus had inadequate time to reply.
"We got a letter on Thursday afternoon, and we had literally 24 hours to put the information together," Cardenas said.
Cardenas also said that the mayor's primary concern is fixing the problems with the turf, and that the subpoena was unnecessary.
"Obviously we don't see the need to subpoena people because the mayor is not going anywhere," Cardenas said.
She pointed out that Saidel had overseen many aspects of the original contract, so he should have been aware of any problems from the beginning.
If wrongdoing is discovered, Radwanski said a wide range of repercussions is possible.
"It's quite difficult to speculate, but it could range from criminal charges, referral to the district attorney's office, or they could be required to rip up the turf," he said.
Saidel himself doubted that criminal charges would follow, saying simple negligence on the part of city officials is more likely than intentional wrongdoing.
"Many times in government, what looks like a conspiracy is merely incompetency," Saidel said.
The controller's office is withholding $440,000 from payment on the contract with Southwest pending the results of the investigation.
Meanwhile a solution to the turf problem has been found, although it involves a costly process of laying asphalt under the surface before Eagles games and then ripping it up again before the field is converted for baseball.
But Saidel said that he will not let this cost be passed on to the taxpayers and wants the construction company to pay for the process.
"I'm absolutely not going to allow that to be paid for by the people of Philadelphia," Saidel said.
The controller's office is looking into how high the cost for the conversion will be, despite having been given a number by Managing Director Joseph Martz.
"Joe Martz has told us that [each conversion will cost] $2,500," Radwanski said. "We're trying to arrive at an independent number."
The Eagles got their first practice on the fixed surface Wednesday morning. Head coach Andy Reid said that, in general, the players felt good about the turf.
"The comments that I heard were all positive from the players," Reid said. "They were all testing [the areas around second base]. That's where there were problems before but it looks like the problems have been taken care of and the areas look solid."
