This one gives contracting out a bad name, unfortunately. Four former workers of a suburban Portland firm engaged by Portland to collect coins from parking meters have been indicted in absentia for aggravated theft and conspiracy to committ aggravted theft. The alleged take: $180,000. Their whereabouts: unknown. More from KATU-2 TV.

A Multnomah County grand jury recently indicted four employees of Hillsboro-based Alpha Building Maintenance - owner Geraldo Luna-Benitez, 44, and employees Fidencia Navarro-Peregrina, 25; Valente Moreno-Munoz, 23; and Javier Moreno-Munoz, 22. Deputy District Attorney Kevin Demer said the four - who face charges of aggravated theft and conspiracy to commit aggravated theft - failed to show up for their arraignment, and their whereabouts are unknown.

The Portland Office of Transportation has been shifting to solar-powered, multispace SmartMeters, but the city still uses about 1,000 old-fashioned, single-space meters for parking enforcement.

In January 2004, Alpha Building Maintenance began an 18-month contract to collect coins from city meters....Keith Ehrensing, who oversees the meters for the city, said he thinks the thieves were taking on average $500 per collection cycle. City parking meters bring in almost $10 million each year. "The people responsible for this literally skimmed off the top," Ehrensing said.

...On April 8, investigators arrested the Moreno-Munoz brothers after they finished one collection route. The men had $546.36 - 50 pounds in loose change - stuffed in two pockets of a jacket, Barnard said. Police found an additional $765.49 in change, most of it in another coat, in their home. Four days later, after another surveillance operation, police arrested Navarro-Peregrina with $3,606.41 in coins in her possession, Barnard said.

The city transportation office has canceled its parking deal with Alpha Building Maintenance and temporarily hired Oregon Armored Services.

How much you wanna bet Alpha Building Maintenance got the original contract because it was minority-owned? I have to say, though, if the charges are true, they sure breathed new life into the concept of cultural competence.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at June 3, 2005 10:03 AM

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