High Tech Debacle

Sandoval County and County Manager Debbie Hays will now demonstrate the consequences of messing up big time with wireless system contracting.

From the Albuquerque Journal:

-The man hired to write the county's bid specifications for the project master plan was allowed to bid on and ended up winning the master plan contract— a practice banned by the state and many local government entities.

-The county only put $300,000 of the project to competitive bid— a process designed to ensure the best work for the best price. And that piece of the project is arguably tainted by the fact that the winner wrote the specs.

-The county paid thousands of dollars up front rather than waiting for detailed bills— in effect, loaning contractors money to do work, some of which wasn't performed.

-The county didn't require the primary contractor to post a performance bond to ensure the job would be completed as promised. Liability insurance for the project wasn't purchased until last September, a year into the implementation.

-The county shelled out more than $50,000 to set up a private company, Sandoval Broadband, to oversee the project— a move that allowed the hiring of subcontractors and disbursement of public dollars to be shielded from public scrutiny.

While wireless may be high tech, the New Mexico State Procurement Code sure isn't. Competitive bidding and performance bonding is Not. Rocket. Science. Thus maybe answering part of the question, dumb, lazy or cheating?