Saturday, April 15, 2000
County: Bengals violated policy on bids
New 'home' will best NFL's best
BY Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Bengals officials sent a pair of threatening letters to Hamilton County this week in an attempt to convince the county to hire the team to manage daily operations at Paul Brown Stadium.
County administrators say the letters are a clear violation of their policy prohibiting bidders from communicating with county employees during a contract selection process.
That will cause the county to tear up the Bengals' bid — and because neither of the other two bids had all the required information, the county will have to start the entire process anew.
Starting over means at least a six-week delay in hiring a stadium management company — just four months before the stadium is scheduled to open.
Commissioners Bob Bedinghaus and Tom Neyer both said they will support the idea of starting fresh. They will vote on the issue at Monday's staff meeting.
“We're embarking on the beginnings of a 30-year relationship with the Bengals, and we're not going to get pushed around like that,” Mr. Bedinghaus said.
“These sorts of insatiable demands on behalf of the Bengals wear thin after a while,” he said.
The letters — both of which were dated April 11 — were sent after the Bengals learned that their contract proposal was not the lowest submitted during an open bidding process.
Bids are a matter of public record, available to any citizen. Suzanne Burke, director of the county's administrative services department, said the Bengals requested information on the two other bids after the deadline passed.
Bengals attorney W. Stuart Dornette wrote a letter pointing out why Stadium Management Co. — which manages Cinergy Field and submitted the lowest bid — should not be awarded the job.
That letter was addressed to Amy Hoh, the county's selection committee leader.
In one portion, Mr. Dornette says that SMC's proposal does not comply with the county's request for bids and should be disqualified.
County policy states that questions can be directed to Ms. Hoh. But “any bidder who attempts to contact any other county official, employee, or (construction) project team member will be disqualified.”
Mr. Dornette said Friday that his letter was an inquiry to Ms. Hoh and therefore not a violation of the policy.
The 10-page letter presents a list of reasons why the team says SMC is not qualified and did not respond properly in its bid. It asks no questions of Ms. Hoh.
The letter ends, “Please respond promptly whether the county will strike (the SMC) bid or whether litigation should be commenced to do so.”
In a separate letter, also dated April 11, Bengals director of stadium development Troy Blackburn said construction is so far behind schedule that “substantial, ongoing work will be required once the building opens.”
No company other than Paul Brown Stadium Management Ltd. — the subsidiary created by the team — can coordinate that work and operate the building, according to Mr. Blackburn's letter to County Administrator Dave Krings.
“The cold facts are that SMC is not equipped to manage Paul Brown Stadium, does not have the personnel to do so, and manages to a standard — as we have seen for several years now — we will leave behind at Cinergy Field,” Mr. Blackburn's letter says.
“Any rational conclusion causes one to believe that hiring an inexperienced company with limited staff is the recipe for legal and economic disaster,” the letter says.
Mr. Blackburn declined through a spokesman to answer questions about the letter on Friday.
The dispute got its start several months ago when the Bengals management, which has served as interim manager of the stadium since July, refused to go through a public bidding process when hiring some of its personnel.
That led to the county with holding more than $21,000 in payments to the Bengals. Stadium managers are involved in all aspects of maintaining facilities — from buying equipment, to painting to hiring a grounds crew.
Mr. Neyer said the delay will not cause any problems with opening the stadium on time or with the maintenance of the facility. But it does underscore building tension between the county and the team.
“This displeases me because it slows down the process, and that serves no one,” Mr. Neyer said.
The $450 million stadium complex is scheduled to open for the Bengals first preseason game Aug. 19.
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