Controller Gary DiBileo wants changes in the way Lackawanna County handles the procurement of goods or services outside the competitive bidding process.
The controller's office is recommending the administration conduct public openings of proposals received when the county issues a request for proposals or a request for qualifications. It has also developed a questionnaire it wants administration officials to complete and submit before the commissioners vote on a contract awarded as a result of an RFP or RFQ.
"We simply want to formalize and monitor the RFP procedures to maximize transparency and ensure integrity," Mr. DiBileo said. "We just think that is in the best interests of the county to do business that way."
David Pettinato, deputy director of purchasing, said he is willing to work with Mr. DiBileo's office but also noted the county's RFP/RFQ procedures mirror those at the federal and state levels.
"The question is why something that is good for the federal government, the state government, is not good for the county controller," Mr. Pettinato said. "We haven't reinvented the wheel."
Issue raised
The issue boiled over into the public arena at a Feb. 5 commissioners meeting when Mr. DiBileo questioned the use of an RFP instead of sealed bids for the furniture contract at PNC Field. The ballpark is undergoing a $43.3 million reconstruction.
The commissioners, who were poised to award the $285,000 furniture package to One Point of Scranton, agreed to table action on the contract pending a meeting between Mr. DiBileo and representatives of the administration and the Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority.
Mr. DiBileo said his office now has enough information to give its stamp of approval to the furniture contract, but he is still concerned by what he sees as the county's movement away from competitive bids in favor of RFPs.
"We believe bidding should be a priority for the county, but when RFPs are appropriate, we feel they should be opened publicly so that proposers know the starting point of the process," he said. "If negotiations take place later, everyone knows what the beginning point was."
No favoritism
While there is nothing in state law that requires proposals to be opened in public, doing so would allow the county to avoid any appearance of impropriety "and minimize the opportunity for favoritism to enter into the picture," the controller said.
One of the questions on the controller's new RFP/RFQ "audit questionnaire" asks the administration to specify why the goods or services being procured are excepted from bidding.
Mr. Pettinato said whether the Purchasing Department seeks bids or issues an RFP or RFQ comes down to what is warranted by the project. The county goes the sealed bid route when something "fits nice and neatly in the box" but will look at other options when it doesn't, he said.
"I'm not choosing one over the other for any reason other than that is the best possible way for the county to proceed," he said.
He said the public opening of proposals received through an RFP or RFQ would lessen the leverage the county enjoys in subsequent negotiations with the prospective vendors.
County chief of staff Maria Elkins said she does not favor opening proposals publicly because there is sometimes proprietary information in them, particularly those involving professional services.
"You can't say we'll do it for some and not for others," Ms. Elkins said. "It has to be a consistent process where we are opening them all or not any. It can't be a hybrid."
As for filling out the questionnaire, Ms. Elkins said that is something she and Mr. Pettinato will have to explore.
"We'd like to review it with the commissioners and continue the conversation with the controller's office," she said.
Mr. Pettinato said Mr. DiBileo or a representative of his office is always welcome to attend the opening of RFP submissions and observe the reviews conducted by the committees that evaluate them.
"I have no problem with him being there," Mr. Pettinato said. "All of the RFPs I have done, he has been invited to come and be part of. That is not something new."
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com