Alamance legislators seek no-bid, no rules food deal for county jail
It certainly looks innocent enough when you read it:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT PROVIDING THAT THE ALAMANCE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE MAY CONTRACT FOR THE PURCHASE OF FOOD AND SUPPLIES FOR THE COUNTY’S 4 DETENTION FACILITY WITHOUT BEING SUBJECT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF CERTAIN STATE PURCHASE AND CONTRACT LAWS. The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office may contract for the purchase of food and supplies for the County’s detention facility without being subject to the requirements of G.S. 143-129 and G.S. 143-131.
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
Let’s see. NCGS 143-129 is the section of the state statutes requiring things like competitive bidding, advertising of bids, and putting all agreements in writing.
NCGS 143-131 contains the mandate to make a good faith effort at obtaining minority participation in government contracts.
The sponsors of this curious piece of legislation are Republicans Dennis Riddell and Stephen Ross. It would be interesting to know WHY the contract needs to evade the competitive bidding requirements. How are taxpayers to know whether food service at the jail is being handled in the most fiscally responsible manner possible?: Are there really a limited number of sources to contract with for jail food services? If the reporting requirements for obtaining minority participation are too cumbersome for THIS scenario, what makes them so acceptable for other scenarios?
Public officials, we expect all of you to follow the law, regardless of your Party affiliation, regardless of whether your Party is “in” or “out,” and regardless of whether you’re conducting County business, State business, or national business.
Alamance, your officials aren’t the only ones, ignoring the rules.
Three Democrat members of the Madison County Board of Commissioners (Chairman Wayne Brigman, Vice-Chairman Clayton Rice, and Norris Gentry) had the gall to vote DOWN a motion, requiring the Board to conduct its meetings, according to Parliamentary Procedure.
The Chairman’s imperious comment was, “This is politics, folks.”
(The article, “Commissioners Struggle to Unite” by Melissa Dean, in the January 21, 2015 edition of “The News-Record & Sentinel,” provides more details of this disgraceful meeting. The archived text is available here: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/citizen_times/doc/1647048286.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=cf4bd6c034a9c2932952c9a3e8b77215&date=Jan+21%2C+2015&author=Dean%2C+Melissa&desc=Commissioners+struggle+to+unite)
When our government officials refuse to follow even the most basic established procedures, they shouldn’t be shocked to learn that we don’t trust them to responsibly handle any monies or appropriately conduct any other official business.
Voters, those splinters in our fingertips are from scraping the bottom of the barrel.
I wonder if Reps. Dennis Riddell and Stephen Ross have any financial connections to a company that would benefit from a no-bid contract? Kind of like what Representative Justin Burr did with his bill that created a monopoly for his father’s company. I hope that’s not the case here.