- This topic has 0 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 9 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
NC office supply contract thrown out on ambiguity
RALEIGH
— A state agency chief threw out North Carolina state government’s
office supply contract with Office Depot on Tuesday, saying the rules
as to whether the bidders offered retail sales were
ambiguous.Administration Secretary Britt Cobb ordered the state
Division of Purchase and Contract to issue a new request for office
supply contract bids and throw out Office Depot’s six-year, $18.2
million-a-year deal approved last November. The deal, which needs to be
completed by Dec. 1, should also fix a problem Cobb’s office found in
grading the bid proposals.
Now all vendors will be able to rebid,
the secretary said.”Due to the technical error, we are required to take
this action,” Cobb said. “More importantly, it is the right thing to
do.”An administrative law judge in May recommended that Florida-based
Office Depot shouldn’t be the state’s sole provider of staplers, ink
cartridges, paper clips and 19,000 other items for orders under
$200.Judge Beecher “Gus” Gray determined that that contract bid was
mishandled and appeared unethical and unfair in part because the
consulting firm North Carolina hired to guide the state on the contract
had done millions of dollars worth of business for Office Depot in
recent years.
State To Seek New Office-Supply Contract
RALEIGH,
N.C. — State administration Secretary Britt Cobb on Tuesday terminated
a more-than $100 million office-supply contract with Office Depot and
said he will solicit bids for a new one.The decision comes in response
to a lawsuit and a ruling by an administrative law judge that
recommended the state make changes to the six-year contract.Corporate
Express is suing North Carolina claiming that the Department of
Administration unfairly awarded the office-supply contract to Office
Depot and cited conflict of interest.After a thorough review of the
evidence, Cobb cited an ambiguity regarding the e-procurement terms in
the Request for Proposals to procure office supplies for state
agencies.”Due to the technical error, we are required to take this
action,” Cobb said. “More importantly, it is the right thing to do. We
will rebid the contract with the goal of having a new one in place by
Dec. 1, 2006.”
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.