An Insufficiently Bid Contract in Essex County, NJ
It's not every day that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/nyregion/political-links-seen-behind-…; target="”_blank”">an
article about an insufficiently bid county contract</a> appears on the
front page of a major newspaper, but that's what happened today with
the New York <i>Times</i>.<br>
<br>
Insufficiently bid contracts are one of the most serious signs of
corruption in local government. The requirement of competitive bidding of local
government contracts is the first of a two-part attempt to
ensure that contracts are made in the public interest rather than to
favor the personal and political interests of officials.<br>
<br>
The second
part is the hard part: ensuring that contracts are truly bid on an
open, competitive basis. When contract specifications favor a
particular bidder, or keep out one or more low-price bidders, or
other efforts are made to prevent unfavored companies from bidding,
it is clear that the procurement system is seriously corrupt.<br>
<br>
From the <i>Times</i> article this morning, this appears to be the case in
Essex County, NJ (home of Newark), where a bid is out for an immigrant detention center.
The "bidding rules specified that visitors to the detention center
greet detainees 'in the gymnasium' — a requirement that seemed to
point to an existing facility, Delaney Hall in Newark, operated by
Community Education Centers." Now, why would anyone specify that
detainees be greeted in a gymnasium rather than in some other sort
of room?<br>
<br>
In addition, bidders were given only 23 days to prepare a bid for a
big contract such as this. Only one ad was placed, and there was no
outreach to potential bidders. These are all signs of an attempt to
keep other bids from being made.<br>
<br>
It gets worse. "[F]ederal officials said they were already making
plans to send immigrants to Delaney Hall because Essex [County]
specifically mentioned it in its proposal to the federal government.
They were not aware that the county was considering other
facilities."<br>
<br>
Essex County counsel said that no company had the inside
track for the contract, that he expected as many as thirty companies
to express interest. “We have a public bid looking for anybody who
thinks they can provide these services."<br>
<br>
County counsel's job is not to be a promoter, but to make sure
procurement is done honestly and for the public's benefit. His
response should have been that his department will look at the
contract specifications, and recommend that more outreach be done
and a longer time limit be provided.<br>
<br>
Why, you might be wondering, is Community Education Centers being
favored, especially since only three years ago it was "seriously
penalized" with respect to using the same facility as an immigrant
detention center? The article focuses on company senior
vice-president William J. Palatucci, who was not only the governor's mentor and law
partner, but also, along with others at the company, an important
supporter of the county executive. In other words, this appears to be a case of political
rather than personal favoritism.<br>
<br>
Whichever it is, it is the public that
loses, by paying more for the detention center, by possibly getting
a firm that has not solved the problems it had three years ago, and by seeing that their officials care more about their supporters and political allies than they do about the public.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
203-859-1959