Letter: 'Defending the Indefensible'

Editor,

Defending Southbury’s failure to obtain competitive pricing for a $117,000 Mower, Edelson states:

..."The State Bid List is created through a competitive bid process. It was understood that the Town would be duplicating what the State had already done but with lower purchasing power," and

This assertion negated by fact that the Town duplicated what the State 'had already done on two occasions,' obtaining much better prices than the state bid recently for clearance of storm debris and for sand a couple of seasons ago. He adds,

“Items purchased from the State of Connecticut’s official competitive bid list…are exempt from the requirements established by this policy.”

Mr. Edelson's inference that purchases from the state exempts the town from obtaining competitive price quotations/bids  -- is 1) a ridiculous interpretation or; 2) a serious flaw in town policy which needs to be addressed and corrected promptly.  Prior to (not following) making any costly purchase from the state, the town should have obtained at least 3 price quotations if advertised bids were not practical due to the nature of the equipment.

Edelson is further factually incorrect when he states  ‘only one manufacturer’s boom mower folds to equal the width of the tractor facilitating transport’, since many manufacturers offer this feature among them:  Alamo and Rhino both with several dealers in CT.  I would expect Edelson made this statement because he was provided with erroneous information by staff rather any intent on his part to mislead.

That Southbury does not generate enough  'competitive bidding’ to be considered burdensome as Edelson states, is supported by the fact that the only bid on the town website is for the removal of debris.

We can only be assured of the best possible price is through obtaining bids or 3 price quotations if not practical to bid.

At the dawn of another administration, Southbury still appears to be the only town with bidding problems.

A neighboring town official said the state bid list is used as a baseline guide before towns go out to bid for any and everything on the state bid list - including asphalt and that towns almost always obtain a better deal – as we learned above with debris removal and sand.

Once again, we hear excuses for Southbury’s failure to mind the bottom line.

Signed,
Carol Renza
Co-chairman, Concerned Taxpayers of Southbury