Local business questions city bid process
A local video production company president asked Frederick city officials last week to explain how he lost out on a city job that was supposed to go to the lowest bidder, but did not.
Russ Hodge, president of 3 Roads Communications in Frederick, along with five other local vendors, were invited, via a May 24 email, to bid on a series of videos for the Weinberg Center for the Arts. The deadline for submission was June 14.
In a follow-up email on May 24, Keisha Brown, the city’s purchasing director, said that the bid award would go to the lowest bidder. “Since this is a quotation process, it will be based on lowest cost. The Weinberg staff is requesting quotes from firms they feel can provide the quality they are looking for based on past performance and reputation,” Brown wrote.
The “request for quote” was to be faxed or emailed, according to the bid specifications. Hodge emailed 3 Roads’ notarized bid on June 9, and when he didn’t receive confirmation, he sent another email on June 13 asking if his bid had been received. Early on June 14, Brown said in an email that she had not received the bid. A few minutes afterward, Hodge resent the bid, a 13-page Microsoft word document, along with a copy of his June 9 submission.
The video series, highlighting the 2017 – 2018 Weinberg Center season, was to go into production starting July 1. When he didn’t hear back, Hodge assumed another vendor had underbid 3 Roads Communications.
Hodge emailed Brown on Tuesday, July 25 to find out which vendor won the job, and was told that the vendor who had done video production for the Weinberg Center previously at no charge was awarded the job. The winning bid was $20,640, according to a July 25 email from Brown.
When Hodge informed her that 3 Roads’ bid was $8,250, well below the winning bid, Brown responded that the bid was never received. “I did not receive anything other than your response to my email yesterday. I have copied Katie Barkdoll, Director of Budget and Purchasing. We have hard deadlines for solicitations to be fair to all vendors. There was no follow-up from you on June 14th to verify receipt. My last correspondence on that date advised that I had not received the quote,” Brown wrote. She later told Hodge that the city’s IT department did not identify any emails with attached bids from 3 Roads Communications during that timeframe.
Hodge said in an interview that he simply wants to know what happened, how it happened, and what steps he can take to ensure the city receives any future bids he may submit. He said he has no beef with the winner of the bid, but is frustrated by the process.
“If I lost it fair and square, that would be fine,” Hodge said in an interview. “But I did the work [on the bid] and we came in at almost two-thirds less than the competition came in at. I am not going to walk away from it, and as a business owner and taxpayer, nor should I.”
Hodge asked Brown to follow up on the issue in a July 25 email. Brown responded that the matter was being “reviewed” and that Hodge should hear something “early next week.” Hodge then wrote to Mayor Randy McClement and his assistant Nikki Bamonti on Thursday, July 27, asking them for help. He received a reply from Bamonti, who told him “The Mayor is looking into this matter and will let you know the outcome.”
The Frederick Extra asked city spokeswoman, Patti Mullins on Friday, July 28 for a contact to address the city’s purchasing and solicitation practices, both in general and specific to the Weinberg Center bid. Mullins said she would have more information on Monday. As of close of business Monday, neither Hodge nor The Frederick Extra had received a response from the city. The Frederick Extra will update the story as new information becomes available.
Hodge said his experience has raised questions about other vendors who may have found themselves in similar situations, knowingly or not. ‘I wonder if this has happened in other cases, and for larger dollar amounts than this. Frankly, they ought to be looking into that, too,” Hodge said.
Disclosure: Russ Hodge has been a member of The Frederick Extra’s board of directors since September 2016.
