Posted on 05/22/2008 9:58:21 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
An effort to streamline state contracting and perhaps save taxpayers money has backfired, leaving a legal dispute – and a big unpaid bill.
A New Mexico consulting firm was hired to help California state managers improve the terms under which they buy goods and sign contracts. But the consulting contract has been axed and the Department of General Services is refusing to pay the firm's $225,731 bill.
Calling the cancellation of its contract "arbitrary and capricious," Santa Fe-based consulting firm Burger, Carroll & Associates Inc. is fighting back: It has filed a civil lawsuit against the Department of General Services, the state's procurement arm.
The canceled contract and lawsuit are the latest blows to the governor's attempts to improve state contracting and purchasing.
Under an initiative it called "strategic sourcing," the Schwarzenegger administration attempted to use the state's purchasing might to leverage better deals for frequently bought items, ranging from office supplies to police cars. Yet the effort has had mixed success because it forced some departments to pay higher prices for goods under its new strategic sourcing deals than they paid for the same items under old contracts.
In its suit, Burger, Carroll & Associates alleges that General Services and its top boss, Director Will Bush, breached the terms of its state contract, improperly withheld payments for work done and misstated why the job was canceled.
--snip--
Details of the consulting firm's dispute with the state surfaced in a complaint filed in Sacramento Superior Court. In it, the company says it was awarded a $249,000 consulting contract in late September 2006.
General Services halted work on the deal twice – in December 2006 and January 2007, state records show.
The contract was terminated in March 2007, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
And these are the fools who insist on “manging” our health care and solving “Global Warming”. God help us all.
The lawmakers of the state are still unaware of what a "Little Person" is.
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