This is a follow up story to the one from January, after longtime business John Solero saw his name in the paper. He wanted to tell his side of the story in an alleged bid tampering case. He said he wasnt interviewed by the police or the newspaper before the first article came out. He wanted to make it clear that city employees allegedly provided him with the bids that were thrown in the trash can and brought to him to look at before the city selected a alarm system company through the bidding process. He said he did not ask to be shown the bids ahead of time, the city just offered it to him. Even after learning the employees involvement in the alleged bid rigging, the city manager, the police chief and commissioners didnt do anything to correct that or other situations. There was no further investigation. The city manager recently said if any employee came forward with a complaint, he would have it investigated. An investigator spoke to people who were involved in the FEMA cheating. How come no one involved in the alleged bid rigging was questioned by police? This is a clear double standard at City Hall. Businessman clarifies bid involvement Published February 9, 2014 A longtime local businessman says he was on a service call when he allegedly was volunteered information from a city employee regarding a bid for a contract he held. John Solero, of Southwest Florida Alarm and Security of North Port, says he has had the contract to do the fire and security alarm systems in several city buildings for many years. It was one he initially didn’t have to bid on years ago. However, in 2012, City Manager Jonathan Lewis required bids be solicited for a more transparent system. Solero said he helped Property Maintenance Manager Lou Sperduto develop the criteria for the bid — regardless of the ultimate winner — so the city could maintain the same services it has had over the years, including monitoring reports for high-traffic buildings. Solero said he was on a service call at the then vacant city Fleet Maintenance site on Pan American Boulevard in 2012, where he met Building Technician Clyde Walton. Walton allegedly told Solero about the bid results for the fire and security alarm system. “He said that Space Coast was $2,000 less than my bid,” Solero said. “I said, ‘ Clyde , I cannot match that price.’ The information was volunteered to me. I charged the city $10,000 for years. I knew it couldn’t be done any cheaper. But it is what it is.” According to a North Port Police report, a complaint was made for alleged bid tampering after Sperduto allegedly threw bid documents in a trash can at City Hall. A few minutes later, Walton entered the building and dug them out of the can. He then brought them to Solero. “What surprised me is I had to read in the paper what someone believes happened, instead of being questioned by the detective,” Solero said. “I didn’t get to tell my side of the story.” According to the police report, Detective Chris Maki went to the city’s Building Department and enlisted the help of Bryan Holland, a city building official (who works with Sperduto), to help investigate the possibility of bid tampering. According to the report filed in January, Holland researched the specific project. “He determined that all city policies and procedures were followed during the bid process,” Maki wrote in the report. “This job was not a sealed bid and the company owner, who was shown the other bids , was shown those bids so that he could be included in the bid pool for that job.” Maki said he wasn’t sure why the bid documents were shown in a vacant building instead of at City Hall by a building official. He called that part of the incident “wonky.” The statute says it unlawful to “disclose material information concerning a bid or other aspects of the competitive bidding process when such information is not publicly disclosed.” It is “unlawful to intentionally provide a competitive advantage to any person who submits a bid.” A follow-up page was added to the closed case report Feb. 2. Maki met with Finance Director Peter Lear and Alla Skipper, contact specialist, regarding the case. The pair explained the city was soliciting bids for written quotes for the job. “This solicitation clearly did not meet the formal threshold and required bid procedures,” Maki wrote. “Any jobs under this threshold limit ($100,000) do not require competitive bids .” The city did go with the lowest bidder, Space Coast Fire & Safety of Merritt Island, Fla., which bid $8,270. The city then spent an additional $2,000 switching over codes for the system. North Port Police Chief Kevin Vespia said the report answers questions, including why Solero, Walton and another employee who knew of other instances of alleged bid tampering were not interviewed, and why the bid documents, which were not yet released to the public, allegedly were thrown in the trash. Sarasota businessman John Minder asked the city to do an outside investigation. “This is a classic case of bid tampering,” he said. “Why ask for quotes if you aren’t calling it a competitive process? No one expects the city to investigate itself. I would recommend former FBI agent James M. Casey to conduct an investigation. City employees will be afraid to come forward for anything, and that’s not in the best interest of taxpayers.” The city manager thanked Minder for his input.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 15:35:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015