[StBernard] Contract Award Concerns

[Westley Annis]

Several post have questioned the parish awarding a 1.8 million dollar
contract to a contractor that has been the subject of a state investigation.
 
This contractor is still legally allowed to bid on state and federal funded
jobs until  such a time that they are placed on a debarment list. If the bid
submitted by the contractor satisfies all of the bid requirements,  bonds,
documentation etc and they are the low bidder they should be awarded the
contract.
 
As far as questioning if one of the contractor employees is on the planning
commission it should be a no issue because the planning commission should
not be the  Parish department receiving and processing the bid packages.
These types of jobs are usually issued as public bids and opened in the
presence of the public.
 
Bid rigging is a serious offense especially if it occurs  for a federal
funded job. Be cautious with what you post. Just a small perception of bid
rigging could bring a nasty and costly investigation on our Parish and
parish budget. 
 
J Dolese,
former Lockheed Martin Bid Security Chief