CONGRATULATIONS TO SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT FOR FINALLY PUTTING THE INTERESTS OF THE TAXPAYERS AHEAD OF SPECIAL INTERESTS!!!
December 20, 2006
Memphis Watchdog has been watching for some time the purchasing policies of the City of Memphis and the MLGW. Back in September of this year I was alerted to an upcoming bid on Dell Computers by Shelby County. I was told that the County could buy from the Tennessee state Dell contract or from the Western State Contract Alliance (WSCA). It was bid No. SBI001230 due on September 12, 2006. I sent an open records letter on September 16 asking for all the information about the bids such as who bid, the prices, the selection process etc. The reason I sent the open records request letter was that in the past Thomas Consultants Inc had gotten the great majority of the County computer contracts in an amount close to $1 million dollars even though Gateway was considerably lower in cost. I kept following up on the bid No. SBI001230 and was finally told that all bids were rejected. I then followed up to see what in fact happened and this is what I found out.
• The computers will be ordered from either the State of Tennessee Dell contract or from the WSCA at a savings of 30%.
• There were some communications concerning Darrell Thomas discussing the Finance and IT departments who did not want to share the business with Thomas unless the County Commission demanded that they do so. Thomas thought that he would get the business as he had in the past based on the county buying through a purchasing agent for Dell rather than Dell direct. See the emails below.
• Thomas has gotten contracts in the past at the MLGW for $1.16 million bidding against Dell direct even though his price was considerably higher.
• Thomas has gotten contracts from the City of Memphis through the ACS contract for $2.35 million from July of 2002 to March of 2006.
• The amount of overpayment to Thomas at the 30% higher price is $1.35 million dollars. Add to this the other ACS contracts to Lesure, Integrate Technologies, Mitchell Technologies, Trinity Technologies you are talking about $3.93 million dollars cost to the taxpayers due to these minority purchase policies.
The reason that this contract disposition is so important is that the City of Memphis has a Request for Proposal that is very similar and is due for bid on January 5, 2007 and is under the ACS cloak like the ones mentioned above. Click on the document below and look at page 6 and you will see that they call for the Dell computers and others to be purchased only from Authorized Resellers (add 30% to price) rather than from Dell direct or from HP direct or other direct sellers. In the current atmosphere of self serving dealings we the taxpaying public must demand honesty and openness is the spending of our tax money.
Memphis Watchdog acknowledges that programs that train formerly disadvantaged people and firms has value but the methods of training and the amount of overpayment to minority firms must be clearly stated and the methods of certifying these firms must be a public function so everything is above board and everyone is treated fairly including the ultimate buyers, the taxpayers of Memphis and Shelby County.
Click here to read what the Shelby County purchasing and IT department have to say about their decision to purchase at the lowest cost
Click here to see how the City of Memphis has favored certain computer vendors under their ACS contract
Click here to see the upcoming City of Memphis bid under which they plan to give the contract to the same group of favorite vendors regardless of price
December 20, 2006
Memphis Watchdog has been watching for some time the purchasing policies of the City of Memphis and the MLGW. Back in September of this year I was alerted to an upcoming bid on Dell Computers by Shelby County. I was told that the County could buy from the Tennessee state Dell contract or from the Western State Contract Alliance (WSCA). It was bid No. SBI001230 due on September 12, 2006. I sent an open records letter on September 16 asking for all the information about the bids such as who bid, the prices, the selection process etc. The reason I sent the open records request letter was that in the past Thomas Consultants Inc had gotten the great majority of the County computer contracts in an amount close to $1 million dollars even though Gateway was considerably lower in cost. I kept following up on the bid No. SBI001230 and was finally told that all bids were rejected. I then followed up to see what in fact happened and this is what I found out.
• The computers will be ordered from either the State of Tennessee Dell contract or from the WSCA at a savings of 30%.
• There were some communications concerning Darrell Thomas discussing the Finance and IT departments who did not want to share the business with Thomas unless the County Commission demanded that they do so. Thomas thought that he would get the business as he had in the past based on the county buying through a purchasing agent for Dell rather than Dell direct. See the emails below.
• Thomas has gotten contracts in the past at the MLGW for $1.16 million bidding against Dell direct even though his price was considerably higher.
• Thomas has gotten contracts from the City of Memphis through the ACS contract for $2.35 million from July of 2002 to March of 2006.
• The amount of overpayment to Thomas at the 30% higher price is $1.35 million dollars. Add to this the other ACS contracts to Lesure, Integrate Technologies, Mitchell Technologies, Trinity Technologies you are talking about $3.93 million dollars cost to the taxpayers due to these minority purchase policies.
The reason that this contract disposition is so important is that the City of Memphis has a Request for Proposal that is very similar and is due for bid on January 5, 2007 and is under the ACS cloak like the ones mentioned above. Click on the document below and look at page 6 and you will see that they call for the Dell computers and others to be purchased only from Authorized Resellers (add 30% to price) rather than from Dell direct or from HP direct or other direct sellers. In the current atmosphere of self serving dealings we the taxpaying public must demand honesty and openness is the spending of our tax money.
Memphis Watchdog acknowledges that programs that train formerly disadvantaged people and firms has value but the methods of training and the amount of overpayment to minority firms must be clearly stated and the methods of certifying these firms must be a public function so everything is above board and everyone is treated fairly including the ultimate buyers, the taxpayers of Memphis and Shelby County.
Click here to read what the Shelby County purchasing and IT department have to say about their decision to purchase at the lowest cost
Click here to see how the City of Memphis has favored certain computer vendors under their ACS contract
Click here to see the upcoming City of Memphis bid under which they plan to give the contract to the same group of favorite vendors regardless of price
posted by watchdog at
8:48 PM
3 Comments:
You are absolutely correct, training disadvantaged businesses in Memphis is pivotal in helping the local minority community, however, it is obvious that the City, County, MLGW, MMBC, BBA, and company are using these regulations to help a few select minority companies who are priviledged to know the right people. This was not the intent of the law and is the reason there is a graduation clause in the regs.
The Charter Commission must change this so that no one minority company can reap the benefits for too long. I don't think people realize just how many minority companies out there struggle to make ends meet and how just ONE of these contracts could propel thier business into growth mode instead of just paying the bills.
It is also nice to see watchdog making a difference and righting and obvious wrong. Thanks for your diligence.
By
Anonymous, at 9:37 PM
ACS also gets a cha-ching for a monthly service contract on EVERY pc in the city. I'm told it amounts to over 100 per computer, per month. AAAArrrrggggghhhhhhhh
We need a public servant lawyer who is willing to do a public service - suing the city for wasting our money, then jacking the taxes up.
By
Anonymous, at 9:06 AM
Let me get this straight. The City, in its infinite wisdom, outsources its IT services to ACS who in turn put out bids to outsource its purchasing of computers and software. This isn't a bid for computers it is a bid for a company that can provide computers. Also, in that bid there is a minority partnership incentive (another outsource).
This is absolutely insane. What purpose does the CIO, deputy CIO, and IT employess have at City Hall?
I agree with you 9:06, we need someone to stop this madness.
By
Anonymous, at 9:57 AM
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