Questionable contract on Council's plate tonight?

A running theme with the current Administration has been coming to the Council with short or no notice at all on important items.

Monday's agenda session was no exception.

Councilor Don Davis, conducting the meeting in the absence of Council President Van Blake, was a bit testy with the Administration over its request to push a bid contract for the renovation of the 4th floor of City Hall Annex for construction of a new data center.

Pushed to explain the need for such haste -- the discussion item was basically an alert that the Administration intended to have a contract up for adoption tonight (Wednesday) -- Dashield said it was because the Council has an abbreviated summer schedule and the project is urgent.

What caught my ear was that City Administrator Dashield stumbled a bit over what exactly it was the city was expecting to open on Tuesday morning -- a 'bid' or an 'RFP' (Request for Proposals) response. In any event, he said that "there is only one coming in," so the Administration would be able to expedite getting the contract resolution into the Council's packets in a timely fashion.

Huh?

The Administration knows in advance that there is ONLY ONE coming in? Are we witnessing an attempt to circumvent the Open Public Bidding law?

Surely the renovations to the Annex will exceed the bid threshold of $25,000?

Did the City go out to bid? Or is the contract being awarded to an insider who was alerted to submit a proposal in response to an RFP?

Why am I having that déjà vu feeling all over again?

Is it because of the massive ripoff that Carlton McGee -- Mayor Robinson-Briggs' handpicked first City Administrator -- tried to perpetrate on the citizens? (For more on this, see the links below. Bottom line: the City was ripped off.)

You might want to come out tonight and ask some questions.

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INTERESTING SIDE ISSUE: Organizations that live in the real world (like businesses, nonprofits and churches) would have to make their upper floors accessible -- as in installing elevators -- if they did an expansion or renovation that caused construction permits to be issued. The Annex currently does not meet ADA requirements -- if you're in a wheelchair, you are S.O.L. Will the City get to avoid 'paying the piper' on this project?

The QuadTech 'Deal'

• (1) A 6-figure contract-less deal
• (2) What was it the City wanted?
• (3) What was QuadTech to deliver?
• (4) The 'extra' page - sloppiness or fraud?

-- Dan Damon

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ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
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