The Cost of Corruption Redux...
AP reports, via T-P, that the city of New Orleans has wound up paying 62 percent more for new parking meters than it would have paid for similar meters proposed by another company, according to bid documents.
The contract went to a 50-50 joint venture between the local, black-owned Parking Solutions LLC and the national company Standard Parking. The contract was awarded at a time when Mayor Ray Nagin was under pressure to do more business with minority firms.
But the winning firm's proposal didn't include enough meters to cover the city's 3,901 parking spaces, a requirement that at least one other bidder met. As a result the city is paying $557 per space per year, instead of the $343-per-space quote offered by Reino Parking Systems.
The bid documents were reviewed by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
The city chose to treat the contract award as a professional service, meaning the job did not have to go to the lowest bidder. WorldWide Parking, one of the losing bidders, has challenged that decision in court, where the case is still pending.
The joint venture wound up being scored second among bidders for the contract. Reino received the top bid from a city committee that rated the proposals.
The contract went to a 50-50 joint venture between the local, black-owned Parking Solutions LLC and the national company Standard Parking. The contract was awarded at a time when Mayor Ray Nagin was under pressure to do more business with minority firms.
But the winning firm's proposal didn't include enough meters to cover the city's 3,901 parking spaces, a requirement that at least one other bidder met. As a result the city is paying $557 per space per year, instead of the $343-per-space quote offered by Reino Parking Systems.
The bid documents were reviewed by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
The city chose to treat the contract award as a professional service, meaning the job did not have to go to the lowest bidder. WorldWide Parking, one of the losing bidders, has challenged that decision in court, where the case is still pending.
The joint venture wound up being scored second among bidders for the contract. Reino received the top bid from a city committee that rated the proposals.
posted by John V at 9:00 AM
1 Comments:
Perhaps the Richie Angelico, the TP or the FBI should look into the relationship between Charles Rice, CAO, and the spouse of one the parking company's principals. . .Mr. Rice's career was virtually saved by the actions of the spouse (and community property equity holder in the parking company) of one the owners of the parking company. She abused her authority as a member of the bar to help Rice dodge a legal thicket that could have cost Rice his career. . . a few short months later, Rice steers this multi million contract to a startup company offering an inferior deal to the city. .
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