The P-G's Rich Lord tells us of a lucrative city contract being awarded with almost no competition, to a frequent vendor who is politically juiced and has made regular campaign contributions. Then again, the city sent out many invitations for bids, and only got two responses. Then again again, it was Christmas.Joe Smydo of the P-G reports that suggestions to push back the start of the school day drew hearty applause at a gathering of Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt, and "about 170 parents, teachers, and community leaders." No word on any student attendance. A 9th grade civics class on Pittsburgh was also a popular idea.
God, having closed the door of the Garden Theater, opens a window to Scores Nightclub. TRIB columnist Eric Heyl considers the attempt to open a strip club along Homestead's main drag. Editorial aside: if we are going to have a strip club, the city could do much worse than a Scores (link fully safe for work).
The way I read Rich Lord’s story, he indicated that the vendors incur some risk, in that if they overestimate the savings to the city, the city doesn’t pay them, or pay them as much?
ReplyDelete“If the savings don't cover the debt payments, the firm has to make up the difference.” So it was Christmas and the vendors got 15 days to evaluate and make their offers. I don’t get the impression that it is a done deal that the “politically juiced” firm has got the contract, and it will be interesting to see what happens, if we ever get to. Lord noted that the Carnegie firm has been around for a much shorter time than the Minneapolis firm, for what it is worth. It was also interesting that Siemans beat out the Carnegie firm for a contract with the Housing Authority, but never executed the contract. Wooooooo - possible controversy (or maybe nothing at all).
The city could definitely do worse than Scores; in fact, the city has done worse than Scores. Perhaps the borough officials in Homestead should take a trip up to North Oakland and spend a Friday night at the Cricket Lounge. Then they would see that Scores is probably the best option.
ReplyDeleteI got the impression that the contract was awarded to Zappala's firm? Maybe I read the article incorrectly? In any event, 15 days to respond, over the holiday...smell a rat...
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