Lighting Practice caught off-guard by furor

When the Lighting Practice Inc. won a $671,900 contract to relight the U.S. Capitol Dome exterior in Washington, the small Center City design firm didn't envision it would soon be caught in a partisan maelstrom.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill have questioned whether the Lighting Practice got the contract because it was in U.S. Rep. Robert A. Brady's Philadelphia district. Brady, a Democrat, is chairman of the House Administration Committee, which signs off on final contract awards.

But interviews with several officials, and a review of recent campaign-finance records, offer no evidence to support the suggestion. Instead, this tempest may amount to a cautionary tale for innovative local businesses that seek government contracts and try to play by the rules.

The company's founder, Al Borden, who was a lighting designer for theater companies and rock bands before starting his own architectural-lighting firm in 1989, said the Lighting Practice submitted a bid in November for "environmentally friendly" lighting as part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "Green the Capitol" initiative.

"It was a normal, standard public process. We worked like dogs to put together the best proposal we could," said Borden, 55. "We think we won it on the merits."

The office of the House chief administrative officer sought bid proposals and awarded the contract, which was announced early last month. Brady's House committee signed off on it.

The Lighting Practice, which designed the lighting of City Hall, buildings on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and on the Avenue of the Arts, said it had no idea who was on the selection committee.

Borden said he had never met Brady. "I think I may have seen him on TV when he was running for mayor."

What a surprise, Borden said, when, on Tuesday, his firm got a call from a Washington reporter asking, " 'Was Robert Brady involved?' We thought, Isn't this silly. Because we don't make political contributions. We're not political at all. We are just designers."

Indeed, a review of federal campaign contributions shows that neither Borden nor the principals of his company have donated to federal campaign committees or candidates, at least in the last decade, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The lighting bid was issued by the House chief administrative officer, Daniel Beard. The recommendation of the executive director of the "Green the Capitol" office and a representative from the Architect of the Capitol was sent to Brady's House Administration Committee in a "normal procurement process," said Kyle Anderson, spokesman for the House committee of which Brady is chairman.

"The committee was not aware it was a Philadelphia firm until everything was submitted for final approval," Anderson said. Brady did not "steer anything." The bids ranged from $521,307 to $1.3 million, he said.

The selection committee rejected two lower bids, which were about $100,000 less than the Lighting Practice's proposal, because of insufficient financial information, said Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the House chief administrative officer.

One lower bid had "inconsistencies" in line-item costs, while the other lacked proof of the company's financial stability, Ventura said.

"The idea that the Lighting Practice was given this contract based on being in Mr. Brady's district couldn't be further from the truth," Ventura said. "It's a very interesting coincidence, but nothing but a coincidence."

The Lighting Practice teamed up with two subcontractors on its proposal - Vitetta architects and engineers in Philadelphia, and Flack & Kurtz, a New York engineering firm. The subcontractors were not named in the bid proposal.

The Lighting Practice has 23 employees at the Public Ledger Building in Center City and two in Dallas. The firm had $3.1 million in revenue last year.

"We are a legitimate company. We light up a lot of buildings," said Borden, who earned a bachelor's degree in theater from Temple University and a master's degree in theatrical-lighting design from New York University.

He began his lighting career working for theater companies, dance troupes and rock bands. "I did some rock concert kind of stuff. Ultimately, that was just not satisfying." Borden then did architectural-lighting design for two Philadelphia firms.

In 1989, he started the Lighting Practice and today has two partners, Helen K. Diemer and Michael A. Barber.

"We have projects all over the world - offices, hospitals, schools, museums, restaurants," Borden said.

Besides City Hall and buildings and monuments on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Lighting Practice designed the lighting of the Terra Building on the Avenue of the Arts, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Fairmount Waterworks. The company is currently working on a lighting project at the National Zoo in Washington.

In October, the Lighting Practice saw a request for a proposal advertised in a government document that lists federal contract awards and procurement information.

"It was a very open process. A number of firms went after it," Borden said. "We had no knowledge of who was on the selection committee."

Vitetta president Alan Hoffmann said firms wanting to do work for the federal government frequently checked the electronic document FedBizOpps, which comes out five days a week. "It's a public document. It is something most firms who do federal work look at on a daily basis."

Hoffmann scoffed at the notion that Brady - or anyone - had a hand in steering the contract to the Philadelphia firm.

"We've teamed with the Lighting Practice on several other projects," including a county courthouse in San Antonio, Texas, Hoffmann said. "I would stand by this team's credentials. They are outstanding. Nobody steered anything. We are expertly qualified."