GOAL:
A Polk County School Board Process for Selecting Contractors
that is “Fair, Equitable and Transparent”
A “white paper summary” of a June 15 Meeting between Polk County Chamber of Commerce representatives and Assistant Superintendent for Facilities/Operations, Fred Murphy.
Over the past 90 days a number of Polk County’s Chamber executives and their
volunteer leaders have been approached by local contractors who felt the process used for selecting contractors to manage major construction projects of the Polk County Public School System was flawed and unfair. There exists a strong feeling that dollars spent for Polk Schools should be spent with those businesses that are legitimately based in Polk County. There also exists a strong desire to ensure the process is free of favoritism.
Following discussions that initially took place between Lakeland, Bartow and Winter Haven Chamber executives, a decision was made to request a meeting with Polk Public Schools Administration. Immediately upon inquiry Superintendent Gail McKinzie offered to arrange such a meeting with Assistant Superintendent for Facilities/Operations, Fred Murphy. (Murphy was tapped to resolve contractor selection and favoritism issues in November 2008 following the initiation of an FBI investigation into alleged wrong doing by district staff.)
On Monday, June 15, Mr. Murphy met with representatives from the Bartow, Davenport, Haines City, Lakeland, Mulberry and Winter Haven Chambers of Commerce. The two-hour meeting was framed by a thorough review of where Polk Public Schools are in their efforts to create a Contractor Selection Process that is “fair, equitable and transparent.”
Mr. Murphy spoke for the majority of the two-hours allocated and displayed a sincere commitment to creating a selection process that may not always make every one happy but a process that will truly be “fair, equitable and transparent.” The phrase is repeated here again to underscore Murphy’s repetitive statement of commitment.
He provided detailed information regarding the policy which is currently in its final draft stages. More importantly Mr. Murphy addressed two important points:
a.) Within the new policy (under development), the mere offer of a gift by a contractor to a School Board representative will cost a contractor any future right to do business with the School Board. There has not been a “gift policy” in place and specifications are being drafted to prohibit gifts of more than $50 in value.
b.) The new selection process will include a “local recognition of proximity” policy that will provide a legally defensible edge for Polk County-based contractors.
Chamber representatives present felt that positive steps were being taken to develop a process for contractor selection that was indeed “fair, equitable and transparent.” Those Chambers present have since conferred and expressed confidence that Fred Murphy’s goals for the Contractor Selection Process will be a significant step forward and hold the potential to restore contractor confidence and respect.
The new policy is expected to be presented to the School Board for consideration by August. When the policy is finalized we will present the document in its entirety.
The commitment of all Chambers involved is to bring positive change to this contractor procurement process. Mr. Murphy displays a sincere grasp of the challenge and the commitment to make such positive change.
We encourage your comments on this important “buy local” issue.
It is a breath of fresh air to see more talk about doing what is obviousy the right thing to do for the businesses who pay a majority of the taxes to make our community tick. Exporting our spending drains the wealth of our community. Now that the development bubble has popped, I think everyone here is feeling how importat it is now to spend our money locally as jobs are being lost daily. Time will tell if this is lip service or whether measurable results will occur.
I am a great believer in buying local. How can we talk about economic development and then send our dollars elsewhere? I not only try to buy local whenever possible, I try to buy from our customers.
Many thanks to the Lakeland Chamber and the other Polk County Chambers for your work and advocacy on behalf of local Polk County Contractors. In response to the proposed local preference, we have requested that larger firms that partner with local firms not recieve a point deduction or be given equivalent points based on their efforts to \boot-strap\ smaller and emerging firms within our county. The \Buy Lakeland\ or the proposed \Buy Polk\ campaigns should encourage partnerships. While we are big advocates of these campaigns and keeping our dollars local, providing no incentives for partnering can reverse the progress made by our City and County in encouraging diversity and could result in an increase in our \under-served\ market.