Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
Published 10/23/08
When the Española School District awarded a lucrative electrical services contract to three different companies in April, the idea was that Phone World Enterprises would be subject to competition for the first time in more than a decade and the District’s electrical contracts would go to the lowest bidder.
Nevertheless, the Española-based company has been paid $171,021, or nearly six times as much as the two lower bidders, since the contract was awarded, according to payment vouchers.
B & D Industries has received $26,670 in District work during the same time period, and G & M Electric has been paid only $3,017, according to the vouchers.
“It’s unacceptable,” School Board member Leonard Valerio said. “We went out to bid in the first place to increase competition, and it’s just not happening.”
Calls made to all three companies were not returned.
The District bid out its electrical services contracts in March after at least 14 years of giving Phone World hundreds of thousands of dollars of work a year under a contract it had never put out to bid itself. The District awarded contracts to the three companies the next month with the stipulation that the District would distribute projects to all three companies with the lowest bidder receiving the most work.
B & D Industries was the lowest bidder followed by G & M Electric, with a roughly $10 per hour spread between each of the three.
District Projects Manager Paul Salas pointed out several payments made to Phone World since April are for projects started — and even completed — before contracts were awarded in April and for phone- and fire alarm-related work. The District made some payments after that date on a roughly $70,000 project that involved moving a transformer at Fairview Elementary in connection to a years-old property dispute. A $56,000 project that involved wiring four portable buildings at Española Valley High School was awarded to Phone World in March.
Salas said other situations locked the District into working with Phone World on certain jobs, at least for the next two to four years.
For example, Salas said Phone World installed phone, electrical and fire alarm systems at several District schools under state programs that require the company to provide a one-year warranty and three years of maintenance. Hiring a different company to do non-maintenance work on those installations could void Phone World’s warranty contract, Salas said.
At the District’s Central Administration Building, Sombrillo Elementary and Española Elementary, Phone World installed fire alarm systems for which it is the only contractor in the area authorized by the manufacturer to buy parts and make repairs, Salas said.
Valerio did not buy that argument, saying he thinks administrators have gotten too comfortable with Phone World and award it jobs out of convenience.
“I think they’re giving work to Phone World because they’re readily available, because they can just say, ‘Go do this work, and send us an invoice and we’ll pay you,’” Valerio said. “It’s a lax system and I want to see more accountability coming from the District.”
To improve accountability, Superintendent David Cockerham said he wants to create a paper trail showing each of the three companies were given consideration when awarding work created by requesting quotes by e-mail. Administrators said shortly after the contracts were awarded that each company would be asked to submit quotes for every electrical services project. Salas said he requested multiple quotes for all “projects of substance,” but out of more than 20 payment vouchers issued since April for those services, only two included multiple quotes.
Cockerham said he has also given procurement officer Gilbert Sanchez complete oversight of the contracts. The move coincided with Cockerham learning that Salas lives in a house owned by the family of Phone World owner Gilbert Rivera.
Salas and his wife, District payroll specialist Mary Salas, live in a house their daughter rents from Rivera in Hernandez, Cockerham confirmed. Salas said he did not learn who owned the house until six weeks after moving in in mid-2007. Cockerham said he does not consider Salas’ living arrangement inappropriate, and said it was not the reason he gave Sanchez oversight of the contract.
“(Salas’) name isn’t on the lease,” Cockerham said. “ And (Sanchez is) our procurement officer, that’s what he’s supposed to do. That’s his job.”
Salas said he is not sure how much monthly rent is on the home, but put the number at “somewhere around $800 or $850.” He said his relationship with Rivera is business-only.
“I don’t socialize with him, I don’t visit,” Salas said. “Outside school business, I have no contact with him.”
Board members agreed the situation at least looks suspect.
“Whether it is or it isn’t (a conflict of interest), it certainly gives that impression,” Board Secretary Joann Salazar said. “It’s the appearance of it, and it has the potential for a conflict of interest.”
Cockerham said he is considering putting out to bid again all the District’s electrical services contracts. According to Salas, another reason Phone World has continued receiving a large amount of the District’s electrical work is the March bid focused on general electrical projects and excluded work on District phone, data and fire alarm systems.
A previous attempt in October 2007 to bid out District electrical services bundled all those services together. The Española School Board decided in November 2007 to rebid the contract after questions were raised about the legitimacy of the bid. District administrators had recommended awarding the contract to Phone World over a lower bidder, and other contractors complained that the bid evaluation process favored Phone World by heavily rewarding it for previous work it had provided to the District.
The Board directed administrators to leave out phone, data, fire alarm and other services from the March bid, arguing at the time that it would help improve competition. One complaint from a competitor was that few other companies other than Phone World handled all those services, so including all of them in the bid process would narrow down the field.
Salas said — and payment vouchers confirm — the majority of work awarded to Phone World since April has been for the services excluded from the March bid. Phone World is providing those services under a contract borrowed from Rio Arriba County in a process commonly known as “piggybacking.” Though state procurement code requires the District to bid certain contractual services over $20,000, the same code allows governmental entities to use contracts signed by other governments if the same pricing is used under both contracts.Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
When the Española School District awarded a lucrative electrical services contract to three different companies in April, the idea was that Phone World Enterprises would be subject to competition for the first time in more than a decade and the District’s electrical contracts would go to the lowest bidder.
Nevertheless, the Española-based company has been paid $171,021, or nearly six times as much as the two lower bidders, since the contract was awarded, according to payment vouchers.
B & D Industries has received $26,670 in District work during the same time period, and G & M Electric has been paid only $3,017, according to the vouchers.
“It’s unacceptable,” School Board member Leonard Valerio said. “We went out to bid in the first place to increase competition, and it’s just not happening.”
Calls made to all three companies were not returned.
The District bid out its electrical services contracts in March after at least 14 years of giving Phone World hundreds of thousands of dollars of work a year under a contract it had never put out to bid itself. The District awarded contracts to the three companies the next month with the stipulation that the District would distribute projects to all three companies with the lowest bidder receiving the most work.
B & D Industries was the lowest bidder followed by G & M Electric, with a roughly $10 per hour spread between each of the three.
District Projects Manager Paul Salas pointed out several payments made to Phone World since April are for projects started — and even completed — before contracts were awarded in April and for phone- and fire alarm-related work. The District made some payments after that date on a roughly $70,000 project that involved moving a transformer at Fairview Elementary in connection to a years-old property dispute. A $56,000 project that involved wiring four portable buildings at Española Valley High School was awarded to Phone World in March.
Salas said other situations locked the District into working with Phone World on certain jobs, at least for the next two to four years.
For example, Salas said Phone World installed phone, electrical and fire alarm systems at several District schools under state programs that require the company to provide a one-year warranty and three years of maintenance. Hiring a different company to do non-maintenance work on those installations could void Phone World’s warranty contract, Salas said.
At the District’s Central Administration Building, Sombrillo Elementary and Española Elementary, Phone World installed fire alarm systems for which it is the only contractor in the area authorized by the manufacturer to buy parts and make repairs, Salas said.
Valerio did not buy that argument, saying he thinks administrators have gotten too comfortable with Phone World and award it jobs out of convenience.
“I think they’re giving work to Phone World because they’re readily available, because they can just say, ‘Go do this work, and send us an invoice and we’ll pay you,’” Valerio said. “It’s a lax system and I want to see more accountability coming from the District.”
To improve accountability, Superintendent David Cockerham said he wants to create a paper trail showing each of the three companies were given consideration when awarding work created by requesting quotes by e-mail. Administrators said shortly after the contracts were awarded that each company would be asked to submit quotes for every electrical services project. Salas said he requested multiple quotes for all “projects of substance,” but out of more than 20 payment vouchers issued since April for those services, only two included multiple quotes.
Cockerham said he has also given procurement officer Gilbert Sanchez complete oversight of the contracts. The move coincided with Cockerham learning that Salas lives in a house owned by the family of Phone World owner Gilbert Rivera.
Salas and his wife, District payroll specialist Mary Salas, live in a house their daughter rents from Rivera in Hernandez, Cockerham confirmed. Salas said he did not learn who owned the house until six weeks after moving in in mid-2007. Cockerham said he does not consider Salas’ living arrangement inappropriate, and said it was not the reason he gave Sanchez oversight of the contract.
“(Salas’) name isn’t on the lease,” Cockerham said. “ And (Sanchez is) our procurement officer, that’s what he’s supposed to do. That’s his job.”
Salas said he is not sure how much monthly rent is on the home, but put the number at “somewhere around $800 or $850.” He said his relationship with Rivera is business-only.
“I don’t socialize with him, I don’t visit,” Salas said. “Outside school business, I have no contact with him.”
Board members agreed the situation at least looks suspect.
“Whether it is or it isn’t (a conflict of interest), it certainly gives that impression,” Board Secretary Joann Salazar said. “It’s the appearance of it, and it has the potential for a conflict of interest.”
Cockerham said he is considering putting out to bid again all the District’s electrical services contracts. According to Salas, another reason Phone World has continued receiving a large amount of the District’s electrical work is the March bid focused on general electrical projects and excluded work on District phone, data and fire alarm systems.
A previous attempt in October 2007 to bid out District electrical services bundled all those services together. The Española School Board decided in November 2007 to rebid the contract after questions were raised about the legitimacy of the bid. District administrators had recommended awarding the contract to Phone World over a lower bidder, and other contractors complained that the bid evaluation process favored Phone World by heavily rewarding it for previous work it had provided to the District.
The Board directed administrators to leave out phone, data, fire alarm and other services from the March bid, arguing at the time that it would help improve competition. One complaint from a competitor was that few other companies other than Phone World handled all those services, so including all of them in the bid process would narrow down the field.
Salas said — and payment vouchers confirm — the majority of work awarded to Phone World since April has been for the services excluded from the March bid. Phone World is providing those services under a contract borrowed from Rio Arriba County in a process commonly known as “piggybacking.” Though state procurement code requires the District to bid certain contractual services over $20,000, the same code allows governmental entities to use contracts signed by other governments if the same pricing is used under both contracts.