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Health & Fitness

Does the Business Administrator Want Waste and Cronyism?

I think the Town Council meeting video I've just watched -- find it here: http://bit.ly/1adN7eg -- might be the most astonishing thing I've ever seen in local government.

Here's some quick background. Councilman Joe Krakoviak introduced legislation to prescribe competitive bidding for insurance contracts, which is one of our largest expenses. It's based on model legislation that has been introduced in other municipalities. As I understand it, it's a proven money saver: In Hoboken, after this legislation was implemented, their insurance broker cut their fees by a third -- saving the town $120,000. Hoboken's broker is Fairview Insurance, the same broker we use.

Before Councilman Krakoviak had even fully finished making the motion to introduce the legislation, our Business Administrator, Jack Sayers, started speaking. He wanted to make sure that the Council knew that the administration disapproved of this legislation. 

The astonishing part wasn't that Mr. Sayers interrupted the proceedings before the Clerk had called for a second (though that does make me wonder whether Council President McCarthy can control a meeting). It was his rationale for not wanting this legislation to be implemented.

He said that if we have to collect bids for insurance and go with the lowest bidder, we can't then allow another company to come back with a yet lower bid. 

But that's precisely the point: You want companies to give their lowest possible bids to start with. We don't want them to think that they can start with a higher bid and gradually lower it. If they know they'll be able to undercut the lowest bidder later, what incentive do they have to give their lowest possible price in the first place? They'll start with something they think is okay; if there's a lower bidder, they'll just have a chat with the Mayor and Business Administrator and get the business anyway.

In other words, what the Business Administrator is asking for is a sure-fire way to increase both costs and cronyism in local government. He says that we've engaged in this kind of behavior before. He says that this legislation will prevent us from doing it again -- as if that's a bad idea.

If he understands that this process will increase costs and cronyism, yet wants it anyway, what does that say about how he does business? If he doesn't, what does that imply?

Yet this so-called logic was apparently compelling enough that Councilman Krakoviak's motion didn't even get a second.

There's more to say about this extraordinary meeting. I recommend everyone review the video to see for themselves. More to come.

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