In a move that would signal Jefferson County leaders are trying to be fiscally responsible with American Rescue Plan Act dollars awarded for pandemic response, officials decided to hire an outside company to administer the award. Going even further, County Commissioners and Judge Jeff Branick voted to appoint a committee to score bids from companies seeking to fill the position. Just a 2% admin fee of the $48 million granted to help Jefferson County residents through these unprecedented times is in itself a boost to our local economy – if it were spent with companies in Jefferson County. That said, there were several bidders, some local, some not.
But, in a move that would undo any recommendations made by the committee, County Purchasing Agent Deborah Clark began negotiating a contract from a company out of New York that would charge $1 million more in fees than that of local counterparts also vying for the job. This all occurred before a vote by elected officials of the Commissioners Court on Dec. 7, when the contract award was made even in the face of opposition from some of the very same members of the appointed committee tasked with making the selection.
The contract awarded to Tidal Basin LLC of New York was presented twice before it was accepted this week – both times rife with errors, such as the fill-in-the-blank contract agreement naming the city of “Goldsboro” eight different times in the contract rather than Jefferson County. Gaining the reins to the largest grant ever awarded to the residents of Jefferson County didn’t warrant more than a copy and paste job from a company more than a 1,500 miles away or, at minimum, a glance by the court or our attorney before it was tabled on Oct. 26. Still, that was what the elected leaders of Commissioners Court accepted as best for those who voted them into office.
Also, unless it is yet another uncaught mistake the county purchasing agent, the County Judge, Commissioners and county attorney have now memorialized in ink, the county has agreed to pay Tidal Basin administrative specialists $75 an hour, unless it is “onsite,” then it jumps to $750 an hour to cover their wage and travel fees. The cost does not cover other fees that can be attributed to furnished services. The contract additionally backdates the signed agreement – by more than a month, to Oct. 19, and gives the option to renew the contract annually through 2026.
Murmurings from those closely related to the contract award are that the purchasing agent had been in binding negotiations with the out-of-state bidder long before the commissioners agreed to accept the award. And, due to the real potential for a pricey lawsuit should the county leaders back out now, the county attorney’s advice to Commissioners Court was to do whatever Purchasing Agent Clark said to do.
Why did Clark decide this was the company to select? Why did County Judge Jeff Branick let it go through? The company’s allegiance to local residents? Unlikely. Their low bid? They were not it. But, the bigger question is this. Why would the best option be for Commissioners Court to rubber stamp Clark’s recommendation even if they still had doubts as to its being in the best interest of their constituents?
Regardless of what Clark’s opinion is, what the county attorney’s opinion is, voter opinion places the responsibility of county governance on the backs of the County Commissioners and County Judge elected to lead this community. They may farm out the grunt work of going through bid packets and assigning scores – but the buck falls on those seated on the dais.
The decision is not Clark’s to make. And, if she overstepped her role and bound negotiations for a contract that the real bosses had not yet approved, the people’s hands should not be tied to continue further into binding agreements just to save face of staff. Just because it’s always been done that way is not a viable reason to continue operating in a broken system, and what needs to change needs to be changed.
Contracts for millions of dollars require the vote of Commissioners of the Court and to do otherwise is, at best, improper, if not illegal. Past criminal behavior does not create a precedent and to allow this to stand makes the spending of tax dollars and all contracts at the court level a sham. The law intends for the persons elected by the voters of Jefferson County to make these decisions, and the failure of our County Judge Jeff Branick to do so begs the question: Who is spending our money?
This overstepping by staff must be investigated and changed if we are to enjoy the benefits of the outstanding opportunities ahead for our community. Not doing so would be a terrible mistake and will not serve those elected, or those they serve, well.