Archive | Competitive Bidding

Emergency!  Should We Call FEMA?

Emergency! Should We Call FEMA?

We have another “emergency” bill probably coming up for a vote at the Jacksonville City Council meeting this Tuesday. The bill is 2009-467 and its purpose is to appropriate $168,078 for the installation of a new batting cage and picnic pavilion at Wingate Park in Jacksonville Beach.  Apparently, the “emergency” is that the contractor specified in the bill (Jaguar Builders of Jax, Inc.) is working at a location close to the park.  On account of this lucky break, the contractor avoids the competitive bidding process and the usual construction bond requirement. It would be very unfortunate that after the City Council made the right decision by rejecting the no bid Trail Ridge contract that they would so quickly abandon the competitive bidding process on such flimsy grounds. The bill is sponsored by the incoming City Council President Richard Clark. Hopefully, this is not a sign of the City Council’s future under his leadership.

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Concerned Taxpayers Challenges City On No Bid Contract

PRESS RELEASE
From: Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, Inc.
John Winkler, President and legal counsel
(904) 384-9918 www.jaxtaxpayers.org
April 26, 2009 Jacksonville, Florida

The legality of Mayor Peyton’s efforts to give Waste Management a $750 million City contract without competitive bids was challenged in a lawsuit by a local citizen’s group late Friday. The Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, on behalf of all local residents, are requesting a court ruling on whether the Mayor’s proposal for the Trail Ridge landfill can even legally be considered by City Council. John Winkler, President of the CTDC, said his group is unaffiliated with any potential landfill operator. “Our sole purpose is to insure that the City follows the spirit and letter of its own laws on giving out large contracts, ” said Winkler. “City Council must determine both who will run the landfill and how much it will cost the residents for the next thirty years or more. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are at stake, and the process has to be transparent, fair, and free of corporate intimidation of either the public or public officials.”

Winkler explains that the suit asks the court to declare that a vote by City Council to waive the city competitive bidding rules is illegal, as would be entering into the restated contract on Trail Ridge. The CTDC maintains the Mayor’s request to City Council violates local law because the overriding public purpose of the Procurement Code and the contracts it covers make it clear that landfill operations must be bid. The proposed “restated” contract is also unlawful because it contains provisions which could force the City to sell the entire 977 acre Trail Ridge site, together with the newly-purchased City “dirt mine,” to Waste Management without following the City ordinance on land sales.

“The citizens must guarantee City Council is not intimidated by Waste Management’s threats of litigation, amplified by the Mayor, into approving execution of an illegal ‘no-bid’ contract on the landfill,” Winkler reiterated. “Moreover, even a legal contract that could force the City into selling its only landfill site to a private company is irresponsible. The people of Duval County are unwilling to take that risk.”

See filed court documents below.

Complaint For Declaratory And Supplemental Relief

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2 Part 1

Exhibit 2 Part 2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

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Observations Concerning the April 9th Proposed Trail Ridge Contract Hearing

Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County board member Phil Laibe made the following comments about the April 9th City Council hearing on the proposed Trail Ridge contract.  His comments are his own and do not reflect the opinions of Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County.

Although I didn’t have a chance to speak at yesterday’s meeting, I am glad I was there as I found it very informative. Most of the meeting consisted of a PowerPoint presentation given by Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi and questions being asked by City Council members of him, the city auditor and a representative of our office of General Counsel. The reason I didn’t speak is that by 5pm when I had to leave only one citizen had the chance for public comment (not counting lawyers).  There will be a continuation of this hearing on April 23rd.
Some interesting things that came out at this meeting:

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What Do You Mean You Want To Break Up?! We Are Such A Great Team!

Waste Management, Inc. has recently fired its latest salvo over the proposed $750 million Trail Ridge landfill contract by placing an advertisement in Sunday’s Florida Times Union newspaper. It promises the taxpayers of Duval County a cost savings of $250 million over the current contract if they allow Waste Management to continue to run the landfill site. It makes other promises such as recycling, efficient solid waste disposal technology and no closure and post closure expenses for the city. Finally, it emphasizes what a great partnership the city of Jacksonville has had with Waste Management. Wow, this sounds so good that it gets one thinking that the landfill contract does not need to be competitively bidded after all!

Not so fast. It is like marrying the first girl you fall in love with. Sure, it could turn out great, but why not shop around before you take the plunge? In medical science, scientists run clinical trials to verify if a drug really can cure the disease that it claims to cure. So the drug company says that the drug reduces the symptoms of the disease by 50%. Should we immediately start using the drug? Not exactly. You first ask if there was a control group. This control group has the same disease and is similar to the group receiving the drug, but does not get the drug. If the control group also sees a reduction in the symptoms of the disease of 50%, then we know that the drug is no more effective than letting the disease takes its natural course.

What does this have to do with the proposed landfill contract? When you bid the contract, each company submitting a bid is a control group for other bidders. Sure, $250 million sounds great. But could it be matched by other waste management companies? We will never know until we bid the contract.

Also, in the advertisement, Waste Management would seem to be our friend by taking us aside and asking us if this really is a good time to risk litigation costs and permitting delays. You would think that Waste Management is doing us a favor by helping us to avoid all of those headaches. What a pal!

I guess that this is the part that perturbs me the most. Waste Management is using the carrot and stick approach. Sweeten the pot with the carrot of $250 million of cost savings, but swing around the stick of litigation at the same time. Both the city and Waste Management are pursuing risk adverse courses. Waste Management avoids litigation that they are likely to lose according to Florida Coastal School of Law professor Cleveland Ferguson and the city’s General Counsel and also avoids the possibility of losing the contract through competitive bidding. The city avoids the cost of litigation and the possibility of running out of landfill space due to possible injunctions against bidding the landfill to any other company while the litigation is taking place.

The big loser in all of this is the competitive bidding process. The bidding process not only protects the taxpayer by assuring that city services are provided in the most cost efficient manner possible. But it also ensures that government contracts are not awarded to companies that have the best connections within city government. Using fair and transparent competitive bidding avoids government corruption and ensures fairness in the awarding of government contracts. Bid the contract!

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Jacksonville City Government Tax and Spend Hall of Shame

  • Out of Control County Courthouse Costs
    The original cost of the new county courthouse was supposed to be $190 million, but it soon ballooned up to $400 million before it was finally approved at $350 million by the City Council.
  • Peyton's Three New Fees
    Following the property tax reductions enacted by the Florida legislature, Mayor Peyton and the City Council rolled back needed tax relief by imposing three new costly and regressive fees on Jacksonville taxpayers.
  • Shipyard Debacle
    What do you get when you join a poorly drawn up contract with lax oversight of the downtown riverfront project by the city? $36.5 million spent, no downtown park and riverwalk and a black eye for the JEDC.

Jacksonville City Government Tax and Spend Hall of Shame






Out of Control County Courthouse Costs

The original cost of the new county courthouse was supposed to be $190 million, but it soon ballooned up to $400 million before it was finally approved at $350 million by the City Council.

Peyton's Three New Fees

Following the property tax reductions enacted by the Florida legislature, Mayor Peyton and the City Council rolled back needed tax relief by imposing three new costly and regressive fees on Jacksonville taxpayers.

Shipyard Debacle

What do you get when you join a poorly drawn up contract with lax oversight of the downtown riverfront project by the city? $36.5 million spent, no downtown park and riverwalk and a black eye for the JEDC.