Friday, January 21, 2000
Bid scandal bill in trouble
City, county groups try to kill it
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKFORT — A Kentucky lawmaker is trying to salvage legislation, inspired by a bidding scandal for the Kenton County Courthouse, that would toughen the state's procurement laws for local governments.
House Bill 155 was going to be considered Thursday in the House Local Government Committee. But its sponsor, Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, pulled it from the agenda after learning he didn't have the votes to pass the bill out of committee.
A heavy lobbying effort by associations that represent lo cal government officials coupled with concern from lawmakers have eroded support for the legislation.
So Mr. Damron is trying to forge a compromise with the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Association of Counties — which represent local government officials — to try to save the bill.
“We're early in the session. There's still time to work it out and still get the bill out of committee,” Mr. Damron said.
One of the major sticking points is a requirement that county and city officials report all contacts they have with companies bidding for public contracts.
Opponents say the reporting requirement would be cumbersome. There also is no clear language in the bill describing what would be considered “contact” with a bidder, said Nancy Yelton, director of government affairs for the Kentucky Association of Counties.
“Our main concern is the tremendous amount of record-keeping involved,” Ms. Yelton said. “It's overkill.”
Mr. Damron, citing recommendations from the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, has said keeping records would establish a paper trail involving contact between local officials and bidders.
Such contact was a major a part of the bidding for the Kenton County Courthouse.
In 1997, Corporex Companies Inc. — a Covington developer headed by Bill Butler — had the lowest bid and won the contract to build the $37 million project, which included a new courthouse and county parking garage in downtown Covington.
It later was revealed that then Judge-executive Clyde Middleton showed the bids of two competing developers to Mr. Butler. Mr. Butler has maintained the bids were public at the time, but Mr. Middleton resigned from office, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid $25,000 in restitution.
Mr. Butler was investigated by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, but was not charged with a crime. Investi gators from the office, however, said existing laws did not adequately address the situation and that the state's procurement laws needed to be strengthened.
But Ms. Yelton said Thursday that keeping such records would be a road map for lawsuits that could be filed against county officials by bidders who did not win a contract.
“The intent of the bill has merit in trying to ensure the integrity of the bidding process,” she said. “But we believe county governments will be overly burdened in trying to comply with the provisions of the legislation.”
Another part of the bill would require local governments to follow the state procurement code for projects more than $1 million.
Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills, a member of the House Local Government Committee, said that could also be a problem, particularly for small cities and counties.
Mr. Draud, a former school superintendent in Ludlow, said school districts already are required to use the state's procurement law.
“That's a very, very detailed process, with a lot of record-keeping and other work,” he said. “Small school districts have a hard time doing everything to follow the procurement laws on big projects, so small towns and counties would probably have to hire more people or bring in outside help to get that work done.”
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