Free Affidavit - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:03-cv-00977-CFD Document 55 Filed 01/18/2006 Page 1 of 4
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
WENDELL HARP and :
ARCHITECTS ENVIRONMENTAL :
COLLABORATIVE NTERNATIONAL, P.C., :
: CASE NO: 3:03CV97'/(CFD)
Plaintiffs, :
v. :
JOHN DeSTEFANO,
CITY OF NEW HAVEN and :
NEW HAVEN BOARD OF EDUCATION, :
Defendants.
: JANUARY I7, 2006
DECLARATION OF JOHN PROKOP
I, JOHN PROKOP, state under the pains and penalties of perjury as follow:
i. i am over the age of eighteen (18) and understand my obligation when
making a statement to this Court under the pains and penalties of perjury.
2. I am the chair ofthe Board of Education Administration and Finance
Committee and a member of the Board of Education.
3. During 2003, I advocated that Architects Environmental Collaborative
International, PC. ("AECI") not be the architect for the redesigned Prince Welch School.
I had these discussions with the Superintendent, Dr. Reginald Mayo ("l\/Iayo") and Mayor
DeStefano ("DeStefano").
4. The Administration and Finance Committee of the Board of Education for
the City of New Haven is comprised of three members of the Board of Education. During
2003, the members of the Committee were myseiti as its chair, Richard Abbatielio and
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Case 3:03-cv-00977-CFD Document 55 Filed O1/18/2006 Page 2 of 4
Frances Padilla, all of whom were present at a Special Meeting of the Committee held on
May 23, 2003 to consider among other items, the termination of AECi’s contract for the
Prince Welch School.
5. At the meeting, there was a discussion about whether AEC} would deliver
the school that the School Construction Program wanted in the time frame requested.
6. The members ofthe Administration and Finance Committee were very
familiar with AECl’s performance with respect to the Prince Welch School and the Hill
Career High School.
7. On several occasions, following other Administration/Finance Committee
meetings at which Claude Watt (“Watt") Thomas Roger ("Roger") and/or Susan
Weisselberg (‘“Weisselherg") from the Board of Educatiorfs School Construction
Program were present, l had asked them about how the Prince Welch project was
proceeding.
8. During these conversations, the members ofthe Administration and
Finance Committee learned that Wendell Harp ("Harp"), the principal of AECI had not
shown up at the School Based Building Advisory Committee ("SBBAC") meetings, was
concerned more with his "vision" as to what he wanted the school to look like than the
concerns ofthe School Construction Program and the SBBAC and that although Harp
would say that he would make design changes requested hy the School Construction
Program and the SBBAC, he would in fact not alter his design.
9. In addition, the members of the Committee knew {rom the School
Construction Program staff that Harp was unresponsive to requests from Watt for
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information, was generally uncooperative with the staff and there were delays in his
producing useable drawings
l0. In my view, terminating AECl’s contract was long past due, and if the
contract were not terminated, there would be increased losses and expenses to the Board
of Education. l recommended and the Administration and Finance Committee agreed
that AECI’s contract be terminated.
ll. At the May 23, 2003 Administration and Finance Committee meeting, l
requested that Weisselberg supply me with bullet points concerning Harp’s and AECI’s
performance problems at Hill Career High School and the Prince Welch School for me to
use for the full Board of Education meeting the following Tuesday, which she did.
l2. I also requested that Watt send me documents regarding AECI’s
performance problems at Prince Welch, which Watt did on May 27, 2003.
l3. At the regular meeting ofthe Board of Education held on May 27, 2003, I
voted to terminate AECI’s contract because as stated above, l had urged Mayo and
DeStet"ano not to retain AECI for the redesign ofthe Prince Welch School.
l4. 1 felt that AECI had not been cooperative with the requests ofthe School
Construction Program and the SBBAC, had been unwilling to rnake design changes
although it had promised to do so and had delayed in the delivery of acceptable drawings.
ln addition, Harp had not shown up for SBBAC meetings, had made life unbearable for
Watt, and in my View would still try to put his signature on the school no matter what the
Board was asking for.
l5. I had visited the Hill Career School while it was in construction and knew
ofthe problems with the school. l knew of the expenses that Hill Career had cost the
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Board of Education and did not want to see the problems with Hill repeated with the
Prince Welch School.
I6. I did not know that Sherri Ki1lins’ candidacy for Mayor was supported by
Haip or his wife, and I do not read the New Haven Register.
The foregoing statements were made under the pains and penalties of perjury.
John okop
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