Bargain Hunter Is a Hero in Santa Clarita

Don’t call Roubik Mardirosian cheap. He’s a bargain hunter--even when he’s spending someone else’s money.

And in today’s recessionary economy, that makes him a hero in the war against government waste.

Mardirosian, an assistant engineer for the city of Santa Clarita, saved local taxpayers at least $29,550 by insisting that soil contaminated with lead could be removed from city property for far less money than a consultant estimated. After calling more than 20 contractors himself, Mardirosian found a Bakersfield company that agreed to do the job for $23,000.

Then Mardirosian talked the firm down to $17,250.

Tonight, the City Council plans to recognize the engineer’s thriftiness by giving him a plaque and an extra day off with pay.

A few thousand dollars isn’t much out of the city’s $70-million budget, but “it is if everyone saves,” said Andrea Daroca, the city’s finance director.

Watching pennies comes naturally to Mardirosian, an Armenian immigrant who bought his green 1984 Thunderbird almost brand-new for only $4,000 at an auction. Lake Tahoe is his favorite vacation spot, but he goes only during the middle of the week to take advantage of the lower rates.

And he once saved $30,000 for his former employer, the city of Carson, by double-checking the bond amount a developer was to put up for a road improvement project, said Carson City Engineer George Schultz, his former boss.

So when a Santa Clarita consultant reported that it might cost the city between $46,800 and $78,000 to remove 130 tons of soil that had been contaminated with lead from a gas station, Mardirosian was incredulous. The soil--enough to fill a room 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet--was discovered to be contaminated late last year during the widening of Lyons Avenue.

“I’m not a cheap person,” Mardirosian said of his successful search for a lower bid. “I just feel great when I save money.”