Two days later, Whitaker acknowledged that her attendance at Harvard was a summer program — not a degree. Her résumé and application had been unclear, at best.

When the news broke Monday about Arcturis’ pending contract with the Science Center, Dooley said he was blindsided. He didn’t know about the Arcturis bid, he said at Tuesday night’s County Council meeting.

Whitaker said Arcturis bid on the contract last fall. She learned a month ago that the team, which included architect Gyo Obata and their consultants, was “shortlisted” for the job, to design an indoor-outdoor pavilion as part of a large new exhibit focused on farming and agriculture.

At that point, she said she consulted district counsel Mike Chivell, of Armstrong Teasdale, who said her company’s proposal with the Science Center was not, at that time, a conflict.

Chivell responded that Whitaker would need to disclose the contract and recuse herself from discussion or vote on the Science Center, but only if the Science Center awarded Arcturis the work.

Science Center President and CEO Bert Vescolani said Tuesday that he wasn’t worried about the project, and gave no suggestion that Arcturis would lose the job.