Pacific Mayor Adams Defends Controversial Bid Process

By Pauline Masson, Pacific Editor Posted: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 6:32 pm
Mayor Herb Adams defended the controversial process the city used in selecting the contractor who will remodel and expand city hall, saying that city officials must play by rules that serve the municipality.
Adams was criticized for negotiating with three contractors privately after the bids had been opened publicly and for selecting a St. Louis contractor who had listed most subcontractors and material suppliers that were located out of town.
The mayor said he had an obligation to citizens to negotiate the best deal he could get.
“We all do what we know how to do best,” he said. “I am a trained and skilled negotiator. That’s what I do for a living.”
At the Aug. 16 board of aldermen meeting, Adams faced complaints about the bidding process from a local contractor who had bid unsuccessfully on the contract and from the Pacific Area Chamber of Commerce.
They said the city slighted a local contractor when it negotiated with the three lowest bidders and hurt the community by not selecting a local contractor who planned to use local subcontractors and material suppliers.
Adams said contractors and local business people who had heard him promote buying locally were confusing his responsibility as a person with his responsibility as mayor.
“If I’m buying something with my money I can afford to spend more,” he said. “I can speak about individual money, asking people to pay more, but when I’m dealing with city money another set of rules apply.”
Nine contractors bid on the contract to remodel and expand city hall. Bids came in between $3.7 and $3.9 million. The city negotiated with the three lowest bidders to get the total cost down to $3.5 million.
“We asked the three contractors to find ways to reduce the cost without eliminating any of the elements that our department heads thought were important,” Adams said. “We wanted a city hall that worked for everyone, but built at a cost we could afford.
“That is what negotiating is,” he said.
It’s understandable that people would want all the contractors and material suppliers who worked on the project to be local, he said, but they all had the same opportunities when they put in their bids.
The mayor insisted that the city administrator, city engineer, police chief, whose department would see the biggest expansion, and the project architect had made the best choice in selecting J.E. Foster for the job.
“We said all along that we wanted contractors from Missouri, not those from within the city limits of Pacific,” Adams said. “That would have been impractical and impossible. We chose a good contractor.”
Adams said it’s unreasonable for a contractor who came into city hall or called him about the project to think they had a deal with the city.
“Unless you have something in writing, you don’t have a deal,” he said. “That’s how it is in selling cars, which is what I do, and how it is in life.”
Comments about closed meetings also are misleading, he said. The city did meet in executive session to discuss the bid process. Because it was in executive session, the conversation was intended to remain in executive session, but someone had leaked details.
“Because the discussion was made public, I am now free to speak of it,” Adams said. “In the closed meeting, aldermen voted to authorize the mayor and city administrator to negotiate with the three lowest bidders. It was never said to the mayor or staff to re-let the bids.
“As mayor, I called for a vote to let us negotiate,” he said. “That’s what happened.”
Adams said Justin Bingman of Bingman Construction, Pacific, did talk with City Administrator Harold Selby’s office and called the mayor on the telephone.
“He is right, we did talk,” Adams said. “But his memory is different than mine. I never made any promises to anyone.”
Adams said city officials had to get the bid down to $3.5 million, which they did using the skills they possessed.
“We will never surrender free enterprise,” he said. “We cheer for the home team, but we could not afford the luxury of spending another $200,000.”
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