MODESTO CALIF :LETTING COPIER CONTRACTS END

[Anonymous]

Modesto letting copier contracts end
Account manager on council, so the business can’t rebid for work
Modesto
is easing out of its contracts with Alpha Numeric, an office technology
company that employs City Councilman Dave Lopez.Modesto had 25 one-year
contracts with Alpha Numeric for copy machine maintenance when Lopez
won office in December.Those contracts were worth about $40,000, city
Purchasing Manager Mark Averell said.The city is honoring those
contracts until they expire, but it will not let Alpha Numeric submit
bids to extend them, Averell said.Lopez said he discussed the conflict
of interest with the city attorney’s office just after he won election.
He is an account executive for Alpha Numeric, and the city contracts
were ones he managed.”We wanted to make sure it was all taken care of
and legit before I stepped into the building because I didn’t want to
make anyone feel uncomfortable,” he said.Alpha Numeric’s contracts
expire at different times in the year. Each represents a service
agreement for one machine.So far, Modesto has replaced nine of the
Alpha Numeric contracts.Averell said the new agreements are not costing
the city more money.He said Alpha Numeric got the service contracts
over the past seven years when it submitted low bids for new
machines.”They’re very aggressive,” Averell said, describing the
company’s bids. “And fantastic service.”Lopez said government contracts
tend to be less profitable for Alpha Numeric because of a vigorous
bidding process that usually couples deals for multiple agencies, such
as the Modesto City Schools district.”Financially, as a company, it
didn’t hurt us,” he said.

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/324906.html

[Author]

June 12, 2008 at 10:50 AM