There have been significant developments in this story since it was originally posted. See update.–Editor
The MBE/WBE and Small Business Council Subcommittee has asked city staff to investigate a possible case of bid shopping, which is prohibited under city rules.
Ben Warmate, President of Unism Development, Inc., says he was promised a job installing parking meters by one of the city’s contractors, and that it had taken away later after another company undercut his bid.
On April 9, City Council awarded an $8.4 million contract to Parkeon, a multi-national company with offices in
Unism was the only company to respond to the first request for bids on the first round. So another round of solicitation went out, netting three additional applicants.
“I had several conversations with the Director of Operations for Parkeon,” Warmate told the subcommittee. “As a matter of fact, she came down here from
He said he was informed a round of bidding was going to go out but that his company was told that “you guys are the guys for the job.” Warmate said he even reduced the price of some work.
Despite the additional applicants, the second round of bidding was also deemed insufficient. On May 8, a Friday afternoon, Warmate said the Parkeon representative called with bad news—the contract had gone to DC Services, an out-of-town firm that had been rushed through its MBE/WBE certification.
Warmate opined, “most people don’t want to get certified because of the process. But if everyone knew you could get certified in one day, you’d have so many companies coming up to get certified just for the hell of it.”
He clarified, “I’m not accusing anyone of anything but the truth is in the pudding.”
Council Member Mike Martinez quizzed Stephen Elkins, Director of the Small and Minority Business Resources Department on the contract status. After much discussion, it appeared that Parkeon had rejected the Unism bid for DC Services due to cost, which looks like bid shopping.
Council Member Sheryl Cole questioned “this business of having a contract, going out to bid, accepting a contract and then still reopening the bid.” She said the committee’s purpose was to reward minority contracts and to establish trust between the city and minority contractors and asked staff to provide answers.
Elkins explained the speed of the certification of DC Services. “In this particular situation we had an employee who was retiring,” Elkins said, “and that person’s work load was a lot less than everyone else’s due to a rotational basis… they didn’t have a pile to put it on the bottom of.”
Council Member Randi Shade said the process seemed, “a little odd” and asked how long it usually takes for certification. Elkins said that it usually takes several weeks. “If I was a business owner wanting to be certified, I’d call you and ask you when your next employee is going to retiree,”
“At a minimum we’re going to put this on the next agenda,”
Repeated calls and messages to Parkeon’s