The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority should make its contracting process more transparent, state Sen. Jim Ferlo said yesterday, in the wake of news reports on questionable bidding results.

"I think there needs to be greater oversight by the URA board," said Mr. Ferlo, D-Highland Park, a member of that board. "We should know: Who are the respective bidders? What are the amounts? Why is the staff choosing one over the other?"

The call for reform came hours after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on the URA's awarding of parking lot leases without the board's approval, though the written procedures call for the board to choose the winners.

The lease for a Third Avenue lot, Downtown, went to William Penn Parking despite Kail's Parking offering the URA $2,050 more in monthly rent. URA officials explained that William Penn pledged to charge lower parking rates there than Kail's planned to charge.

The lease for another lot, in the Strip District, was awarded to William Penn as the highest bidder, but the firm was later allowed to reduce its bid by $483 a month. The URA had "sympathy" for William Penn's initial "misunderstanding" of the challenges of handling Strip lots, the authority's lawyer wrote.

Those lots had been run by Kail's since the 1990s.

William Penn Parking is owned by politically connected valet firm owner Robert Gigliotti.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl yesterday said he approved of the URA's decision to bid out the lots, along with another lot on Fourth Avenue, Downtown, which went to Kail's Parking as the highest bidder.

"I think competition was healthy and as a result of that competition, we're making $90,000 a year more than in previous years," the mayor said.

Information provided by the URA to the Post-Gazette indicates that the new leases will bring the authority $81,000 more per year than the old leases.

Of that, $5,000 is thanks to William Penn's contracts. Kail's contract to run the Fourth Avenue lot accounts for $76,000 in increased rent, and the firm recently asked to have that rent reduced.

Had the URA stuck with the highest bids on all lots, it would have gotten $111,000 a year more than from the old leases, for three years.

The lot leases became public weeks after the Tribune-Review reported that the URA gave a construction management contract to McTish, Kunkel & Associates, despite the Trumbull Corp. initially offering to do the work for less. McTish, Kunkle, whose top executive is a $10,000 mayoral campaign contributor, was allowed to change its bid, making it the cheapest option.

City Controller Michael Lamb is reviewing that process.

Mr. Ferlo said Mr. Ravenstahl's administration has been trying to widen the URA's pool of contractors, and he supports that.

"I think it needs to be done in a way that's transparent and has board oversight," Mr. Ferlo said.

He wants the URA to put contracting opportunities, and the resulting bids, online. He also wants all contracts and bids to appear on monthly board meeting agendas.

"The board and the public should actually have a delineated listing of what each bid was," Mr. Ferlo said.

"I don't think it hurts to better inform the public and the board."

URA Board Chairman Yarone Zober, the mayor's chief of staff, said he is "pleased to join with Sen. Ferlo on these positive steps to promoting transparency and accountability."

City Councilman William Peduto, who asked for Mr. Lamb's review of the McTish, Kunkle contract, called Mr. Ferlo's reforms "a day late and a dollar short" and "nothing more than a Band-Aid to the cancer that has become the contract policy within the URA."