Pinner Construction Amends Complaint, Seeks to Hold Seven Los Angeles Community College District Board Members Personally Liable for Delayed Theatre Project Costing Taxpayers Millions

Pinner cites California law to hold board members individually responsible for disregarding settlement and arbitration award as well as extending contracts with consultants – despite long-delayed project and consultant misconduct.

"It's time for tax-payer-funded L.A. Community College District to have some skin in the game, step up, and take personal responsibility," Pinner legal advisor Lanny J. Davis says, "California taxpayers need to know that elected officials can be held accountable for throwing around their hard-earned wages like monopoly money."

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinner Construction, a century-old Southern California construction firm, amended its complaint against the Los Angeles Community College District ("LACCD") and its construction project consultants, adding seven members of LACCD's Board of Trustees. While the initial complaint was filed in state court, the new complaint moved to federal court and seeks to hold the trustees personally liable for Los Angeles Valley College's long-delayed and costly performing and media arts project ("project"), as detailed in a bombshell Los Angeles Times piece last month.

LACCD has already paid Pinner over $3.2 million as ordered by an independent arbitrator in April – money that comes straight from taxpayers. After a lengthy trial, Deborah S. Ballati, who is a distinguished former Superior Court judge and one of the nation's leading construction contract experts, decided in favor of Pinner, citing the LACCD's "multiple management failures" and violations of "good faith and fair dealing."

Even so, when asked about the first complaint by the Los Angeles Times, Board President Gabriel Buelna said, "I trust our staff. People file lawsuits," ultimately deciding to extend the LACCD's contracts with the same construction project consultants who oversaw the long-delayed project – a move Pinner's attorneys are now calling a "breach of public trust."

As a result, citing legal precedence and a California-specific statute, the new suit aims to hold the board members individually responsible for:

1. The amount paid to the construction project consultants during the project delay;
2. The loss of use of the facility during the project delay;
3. The damages LACCD will be forced to pay Pinner for the further delay of the project, as ordered by an independent arbitrator; and
4. Attorney and consultant fees paid by LACCD to defend additional claims related to the continued project delay.

The amended complaint also adds Lanny J. Davis as an advisor to the legal team. Davis was a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton as well as a privacy and civil liberties advisor to President George W. Bush. He likewise has extensive experience in federal court, where the suit recently moved at the request of the defendants.

"It's time for tax-payer-funded L.A. Community College District to have some skin in the game," Davis says, "California taxpayers need to know that elected officials can be held accountable for throwing around their hard-earned wages like monopoly money."

"That's why we decided to amend the complaint," Pinner attorney Newt Kellam chimed in, "If the board members know they're on the hook, they're less likely to be as reckless with taxpayer funds in the future."

Kellam also warned that Pinner may challenge the Board to suspend the two specific consultants mentioned in Judge Ballati's opinion – Mark Strauss and Kevin Tyrell – or else face a public campaign to defeat the LACCD's request for another $5 billion in bonds, on the ballot in November 2022.

"At the very least, the Board needs to suspend the consultants in question and ask the General Assembly to conduct a public audit." Kellam added, "It's the least they could do with so much tax-payer money on the line."

For press inquiries, including interviews with Mr. Kellam or Mr. Davis –

Media Contact: Taylor C. Pearson
[email protected]
202.235.3482

SOURCE Pinner Construction, Inc.

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