Yesterday was a particularly long one at the Johnson County Commissioners Court meeting, but an early agenda item that dragged on certainly got everyone's attention with a fireworks finish. (As an aside two of my four opponents attended yesterday and one of them actually stayed for the entire meeting.) The item at hand was a contract for bulk fuel delivery. The county has had a contract with a local vendor for many years, but when the contract was up recently they decided to go out for bid. Two bids were received; one from the current vendor and one from a new vendor. The new vendor was the low bid. Many people are under the impression that a governmental entity has to go with the low bid every time, but that's not the case. Other factors can be considered that may not make the low bid the best bid such as bad references, experience, ability, etc. Preference for local vendors can also be applied so the decision is sometimes tricky.
The commissioners chose to table this item two weeks ago in order to invite the low bidder in to talk about his company because they had never heard of them. They were reluctant to go with the low bid not knowing anything about them and I think that was a sound decision. Yesterday the low bidder presented his company to the commissioners and at least one of them was impressed. He explained that the company was based in Denton, TX and had been in business for decades and had a great deal of government experience all over the D/FW area. As a value addition to his already lower charges for fuel and delivery they also employ a high-tech monitoring system that alerts them and the commissioners to the usage of fuel and remaining levels. Score! Sign me up. That wasn't enough for everyone though.
Precinct 3 Commissioner, Jerry Stringer, made a motion to approve the contract from the low bidder and it was seconded by Precinct 2 Commissioner, Kenny Howell. It went to a vote and failed with Precinct 1 Commissioner, Rick Bailey, Precinct 4 Commissioner, Don Beeson and Judge Harmon voting against it. Jerry Stringer, clearly frustrated, announced that the good old boys club was alive and well in Johnson County since saving the tax payers money did not come as a higher priority for most of his colleagues. He was rebuked by Judge Harmon and Don Beeson for such a statement, but I'd have to agree that relationships run deep and old habits are hard to break.
Don Beeson then made a motion to reject all the bids which would leave the existing contract in place with the local vendor and it passed 4-1 with Stinger voting nay. If they go out for bid again we'll see how round two plays out.
So here's my position and it's really simple. Local vendors are great and keeping money locally would always play a roll in my decisions on the court and do now as a Joshua City Councilman, but saving the taxpayers money has to be the top priority when possible and in this case there was no reason not to go with the low bidder. It comes down to the benefit of one or the benefit of all but one. Even then the local guy gets the benefit of his tax dollars going farther. If price and service were equal I'd go with the local guy every time.
A.J.
For more information about my campaign for Johnson County Commissioner visit www.VoteforAJ.com and "like" me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VoteforAJ
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