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Smelling A Rat In Louisville’s Contracting Procedures

By Terry Gray

Recently I’ve spoken with a number of vendors/contractors that have had dealings with city/county government.  Not one of the vendors/contractors that I’ve contacted has been satisfied with how the government has treated him.  Even for the smallest of jobs, the city hires consultants to prepare data bid packages. Vendors/contractors pay $50 for the bid package, which includes information on everything that needs to be done except for the actual work.  The Vendors/contractors must attend a bid meeting to get the rest of the story. Many times, after the vendor/contractor is selected and work is scheduled to begin, the whole project changes.  Sometimes the job is just plain cancelled.  Okay, that happens, but it would seem that there would be some recourse for the vendor/contractor to recoup the $50 that he spent for the bid packet and compensation for the time that he wasted.

On top of everything else, there are vendors/contractors that have satisfactorily finished the jobs on time and are still waiting for their money.  More than one vendor/contractor that I’ve spoken with will not work for the government.  They fear being ripped off.  How about that for our government?

One vendor that I spoke with that is new in town told me that he received several calls from government agencies wanting him to bid on work.  He smelled a rat.  Why him?  He was new in town and unproven.  So he called around and found out all the rotten particulars and that big rotten particular concerning our government not paying for the work received.  It seems that our fair government is running out of vendors/contractors and searching for fresh meat to rip off.

Another vendor that I spoke with told me that the decision of what vendor will be used has been determined well before the government opens the bid to vendors/contractors.  Hey, isn’t this the “good old boy” approach?  It seems that the bid process is just a formality.  Who’d a thunk it?

I would like to hear from any vendor/contractor that has been messed over by our local government.  I’ll tell your story to the public and spread the word.  You can email me at thefoneman17@juno.com.  

Terry Gray

Rabid Citizen/Investigative Peasant

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