Contractors feted official at fund-raiser

David B. Perini , the manager who supervises engineering and building contractors on scores of state-funded projects, was honored this month at a fund-raising dinner where some of those same contractors donated almost $100,000 for scholarships, including $20,000 for one named for his late son.

Perini's role appears to not violate any state ethics laws, but it is the latest time that top state construction managers have been honored at the annual dinner by the contractors they supervise on projects. Since 2004, dozens of the state's largest contractors have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars for scholarships at the event.

Perini's participation could create headaches for Governor Deval Patrick , whose campaign blasted Big Dig management for taking part in the 2006 dinner. On that occasion, Big Dig contractors donated at least $190,000 for the event, which honored two state project managers.

Doug Rubin , then Patrick's campaign senior ad viser and now his chief of staff, told the Globe last year the fund - raiser was one reason people had lost faith in state government.

A spokesman for Patrick on Friday declined comment, but released a statement noting that Perini cleared his participation with the State Ethics Commission.

"The Ethics Commission issued an opinion that concluded that accepting the award was ethical and proper," the statement said. "Commissioner Perini took the necessary steps required of public employees in these situations.

As head of the Division of Capital Asset Management, Perini oversees about $300 million a year in state projects including courthouses, office buildings, and recreational facilities.

Perini was feted May 2 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston by The Engineering Center, a nonprofit association of engineers and land surveyors. The dinner raised about $200,000 from contractors, including $95,000 from 33 contractors now doing business with the division, according to records obtained by the Globe. Those 33 contractors include such engineering giants as Parsons Brinckerhoff, HNTB, and CMD.

Perini said that The Engineering Center approached him and that he agreed as long as the Ethics Commission approved. In an April 2 advisory letter, it concluded that Perini's participation -- and the creation of a scholarship in his son's name -- violated no laws.

"I did what was appropriate in seeking the ethics opinion," Perini said in an interview. "But I also know myself. I know who I am and what I am about. Anyone who would think that giving to the dinner would influence David Perini is on a fool's errand."

Perini also said that contractors supervised by his agency are insulated from him by several layers of bureaucracy. "Any contractor who deals with me or my agency would know that," Perini said, when asked if he felt contractors would feel pressured to make donations.

He said William Rizzo , a friend and dinner organizer, suggested using a portion of the proceeds for a scholarship at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, where Perini is a trustee.

The Engineering Center also gave about $1,000 raised by the dinner to a clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute funded by Perini and his wife in the name of his son, David Perini Jr. , who died at age 26 in 1990 after three bouts with cancer. Perini is a trustee of the institute. The ethics commission did not rule on that donation because it was done after it issued the advisory letter.

Abbie Goodman , executive director of The Engineering Center, said it was customary to pick "high-profile leaders, including public officials, who have in an exemplary way advanced its engineering mission."

Perini's grandfather founded Perini Corp., one of the world's largest and most successful construction firms. David Perini served that company as a director and officer, but is no longer associated with it. "David Perini's lifetime of achievement is an inspiration to the engineers and land surveyors of the future," Goodman said.

The gala dinner is the major fund - raising event of the year for the Engineering Center, with contractors donating up to $15,000 per company. The center uses the dinner proceeds to fund dozens of educational grants and scholarships in fields related to engineering.

The Engineering Center initially picked mostly private citizens -- usually leading engineers -- to honor at the dinner, first organized in 1998. But in three of the last four years, the engineering group picked managers of the region's largest projects, including Matthew J. Amorello , former chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees the Big Dig, and Michael P. Lewis , the state director for the $14.8 billion project.

When he was recognized last year, Amorello had responsibility for cost overrun claims from contractors totaling $250 million. Big Dig contractors donors included Bechtel Corp. and Parsons Brinckerhoff, which formed a partnership to oversee design and construction of the project. At the time of the dinner, those firms were negotiating how much they would return to the state for shoddy work.

Two months after the dinner, a section of concrete ceiling in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel collapsed, killing Milena Del Valle , a passenger in a car on the way to Logan International Airport. Federal and state agencies, including criminal investigators, are investigating the collapse.

In 2004, the Engineering Center honored Gloria Larson , a politically connected lawyer and chair woman of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. Three contractors working on the new convention center in South Boston kicked in $25,000, including $10,000 from Clark/Hunt/Berry, the general contractor that was paid $450 million on the $800 million project.

It was the only time the Bethesda, Md.-based construction giant contributed more than $5,000 to the dinner between 2003 and 2006, according to a Globe review of tax reports filed by the Engineering Center.

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority also donated $5,000 for the dinner that honored Larson.

James E. Rooney , executive director of the convention authority, said in a statement there was no connection between the fund - raiser and the authority's business dealings with contractors.

"The Engineering Center's recognition of our board chairwoman brought positive and welcome attention to the new convention center as we were entering the marketplace in 2004 -- and we were delighted to support that effort," the statement said.

"At the same time, no one could confuse our support for the nonprofit Engineering [Center] with our hard-line approach to individual contractors that worked on the new convention center. That hard-line approach included suing some contractors and successfully recovering $24 million to correct errors in their work."

Sean P. Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com, and Frank Phillips at phillips@globe.com

(Editor's note: A file photo of David B. Perini used with the continuation of a Page One story yesterday about contractors honoring him at a recent dinner showed Perini in front of a sign at Perini Corp., a construction company where he was formerly an executive. As the story noted, David Perini is no longer associated with the company, and the photo should not have been used with yesterday's report.)