Letter: ‘Southbury's Inept Bid Process Has Become Irregular and Inappropriate’

Editor,

As reported by Maeve Slavin in Voices who covered the Board of Selectman Meeting on 8/02, it is highly irregular and inappropriate that a vendor (who received nearly $295,000 in bid awards for capital equipment as the ONLY bidder) would be invited by Edelson to defend Southbury’s failure to obtain other price quotations.

The Sales Manager of Nutmeg International trucks with 4 CT locations: Hartford, North Haven, Franklin, West Springfield (and is the state bid on truck, selling to towns throughout the state): informed me that IRRESPECTIVE OF WHERE AN INTERNATIONAL TRUCK IS PURCHASED, ALL DEALERS MUST HONOR THE MANUFACTURER’S WARRANTY ; i.e., buy a truck for a better price at another location and the local dealer must honor that warranty, ‘come snow or high water’ as Crowe contends!

If, as Edelson/Crowe indicate, the decision has been made 'not to shop around by the best price per item,' but do one-stop shopping,’ why mislead the taxpayer by wasting money/time on ads placed in the local papers and website that they know only reaches one local dealer?

The statement: “Other towns including Watertown and Harwinton are going through the same experience as Southbury and ‘the smart thing to go with the local vendor’ inferring that business is no longer conducted by bids) . ..." … and ‘the trend is NOT to shop around for the best price per item’ is FALSE.

John Fredsall, Harwinton DPW head, stated even though they have a ‘local’ dealer, they still bid out all trucks and capital equipment over $5,000 and get several bids.

The office of Watertown’s Purchasing Manager stated that trucks go out to bid and they placed a bid request as recently as April 2012. That the beneficiary of nearly $295,000 of taxpayer dollars would be invited to defend the town’s failure to obtain additional price quotations borders on idiocy, defying common sense with nothing to compare that vendor’s prices to determine if we are in fact, getting a good deal.

With the exception of Selectman Landmon who alone questions expenditures on behalf of the taxpayer, the rest of the Boad sit on their hands - deaf, dumb mute to this inappropriate invitation.

Coupled with his disdain for the bid process, this invitation represents an Incredible lapse of judgment on the part of First Selectman Edelson.

Signed,

Carol Renza
co-chair, Concerned Taxpayers of Southbury
799 Peter Road, Southbury, CT
(203) 264-2186