Indiana State Attorney General rules the Educational Purchasing Agency Scheme Illegal

Wednesday

The Indiana State Attorney General has ruled as of November 3rd, 2008 that all construction contracts have to be competitively bid and that the question of roofing products specifically cannot be purchased through a Purchasing Association!

For those in the roofing industry - this is a major step towards competitive bids required in school roofing - not to mention all other products.

Here's to sense and sensibility - and good laws!

The key parts of the ruling:?
"...the purpose of the public work statute and its bidding requirements is to protect the public by ensuring that the process is competitive."

and
"...the conclusion that roof repair/replacement projects are not subject to the public work statutes would be contrary to the spirit and purpose of the public works law."

and
"...Regardless of the cost, all public work projects have certain statutory requirements related to bids and quotes that must be observed before contracts are awarded for the project."

and
"...Upon declaration of an emergency, a contract for a public work project may be awarded without advertising for bids or quotes are invited from at least two (2) persons known to deal in the work required to be done."
Note: Statutes govern who can specify construction products,
particularly related to
fire-rated products and on public
buildings.
Further, as in the post below, the
FBI has caught a New Orleans
Administrator using "emergency" work in a
way some of you
are all too familiar with:

" Carl Coleman, a former risk manager for the New Orleans Public
Schools,
pled guilty to accepting some $300,000 in kickbacks in
exchange for giving
contractors favorable treatment on
“emergency bid” work. Following this
case, the New Orleans
Police Department, U.S. Department of Education,
FBI, and
others created a working group to review and investigate alleged

criminal violations in the New Orleans Public Schools. So far,
the group’s
work has led to over 25 convictions."
Information from the FBI Website


And here's the letter:


You can see it also at Diana Vice's blog, at:
http://www.diana-vice.blogspot.com/http://diana-vice.blogspot.com/2008/11/breaking-news-attorney-general-steve.html
 

Popular Posts