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Phoenix government corrupt to the core??? Probably!!!
Protest might delay Sky Harbor contract by Emily Gersema - Apr. 24, 2012 06:09 PM The Republic | azcentral.com The Phoenix City Council was set to fast-track approval this week of a Phoenix Sky Harbor food-and-beverage contract worth up to $650 million, but the deal appears headed for an emergency landing. After keeping silent for months while its competitor Areas USA argued that the city should rebid the contract due to an unfair bidding process, incumbent concessionaire HMS Host on Monday launched a protest of its own. In the protest letter obtained by The Arizona Republic, HMS Host attorneys accused the city of rigging the bidding process to exclude the company from serious consideration for the second of two food-and-beverage contracts in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport's Terminal 4. According to HMS Host attorney Nicholas Wood, an April 18 letter by Brad Holm -- an attorney on contract with the Aviation Department -- revealed that HMS Host "was never going to be a possible awardee" and "clearly contradicts the RFP (request for proposal) itself and what Host was told by the city in preparing its package 1 and 2 proposals." The latest protest could derail efforts by the City Council to fast-track the contract award. The skirmish also highlights the city's ongoing struggle to develop a method of choosing contractors that would be bullet-proof to legal action and protests. At stake is the second of two 10-year airport food-and-beverage contracts. The contract is worth an estimated $45 million to $65 million a year in gross sales, and the winning bidder will manage an estimated 20 restaurants and bars in Terminal 4 -- about half the spaces. An evaluation panel and Aviation Director Danny Murphy are recommending award of the second deal to SSP America. The other bidders are Areas USA of Miami and HMS Host, based in Bethesda, Md., which won the first food-and-beverage packages last summer. In his letter, Holm was responding to Areas USA's arguments that the second contract should be rebid because a restaurant, Oregano's Pizza and Bistro, dropped out of the SSP America proposal. Phoenix officials, though, allowed SSP America to fill Oregano's spot with another vendor, Humble Pie. Some city officials have characterized this as a routine move. This substitution "was in the city's interest as opposed to throwing out SSP's proposal and awarding the Package 2 contract to Host, the firm with the second-best proposal," Holm wrote. "Importantly, this outcome -- the awarding of Package 2 to Host -- would eliminate competition at the airport," Holm added. Last year, even though HMS Host had won the first of the two contracts, city officials made clear that it could bid on the second contract. This opened up the possibility that HMS Host could, if awarded the second contract, extend its 22-year monopoly on food-and-beverage service in the terminal for another 10 years. Awarding both contracts to HMS Host is politically and legally risky for the city and City Council; contractors would then accuse them of favoritism. For months, Areas USA has protested the city's handling of the bidding process on the second contract. Areas USA alleges: the bidding process was unfair, SSP America overstated its projected revenues for the deal, SSP America inflated the number of minority- and women-owned restaurants and bars that are its partners; and SSP America exaggerated the number of locally owned restaurants and bars that are its partners. SSP America denies the allegations. Areas USA attorneys have warned council members in recent protest meetings that if the contract is not rebid, the company may sue the city Last week, the council's four-member Downtown, Aviation and Economy Subcommittee posted a public notice on phoenix.gov that it will hold a special meeting in City Hall at 8 a.m. Thursday to vote on the contract and send it to the nine-member council for a final decision next week. This means the nine-member Phoenix Aviation Advisory Board will not vote on the matter. Subcommittee chairman Vice Mayor Michael Johnson said it's the first time that the council has skipped the advisory board's input on a major contract. Johnson said the council wants no further delay on the deal -- which the council has been anticipating since the HMS Host contract expired in 2008. The advisory board had canceled its March and April meetings because it could not draw a quorum. Aviation Department officials said some members were dealing with personal or family matters and could not attend. Johnson and Councilman Michael Nowakowski said they had not read the HMS Host protest letter. Council members Thelda Williams and Daniel Valenzuela didn't immediately respond to calls seeking comment. |