Paris Beacon Reporting and Omissions…

Quote from the Paris Beacon:

“County Clerk August Griffin said three bids were received with two bid proposals submitted in a sealed envelope as requested.”

As Requested? 

All they had to do was READ THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL and they would find out that there was no request for sealed bids, not to mention I verbally addressed this FACT during public session!  With a verbalized public disgust over the boards failure to “require”, let alone request, sealed bids should have been enough for any reporter to understand there was not a request for sealed bids. Why report that their was?

Quote from Paris Beacon:

“A third bid from Care Ambulance of Terre Haute, Ind., was hand delivered to Griffin’s office, where a clerk placed it into a sealed envelope prior to the bidding.”

No, the bid from Care Ambulance was not placed in any sealed envelop. It was held up by the clerk who acknowledged it was not sealed when it was turned in and it was placed in a folder.  He held the folder up for everyone to see and it was not in any fashion sealed.  It may have been in his personal care, and no one may have seen it, but to report it was sealed by the clerk does not represent what we witnessed at the meeting.  I can only hope the video taken by the clerk shows him holding the folder up when he tells everyone it was not sealed.

In fact, the clerk reported to the board that he had received three bids of which two were sealed and one was not. Why tell the public the clerks office placed that bid under seal when it did not?

What didn’t the Beacon tell the public?

They made no mention of the current contract that had a requirement for the board to provide written notice of an intent to change the contract. They knew that was an issue because I raised it during public session, yet they failed to report that little tidbit in their reporting.

What reporting was done, leads people to believe that Rescue 1 was the low bidder, however, bids are about more than a dollar figure.  Neither Rescue 1 nor Care Ambulance presented a bid package that met the specifications of the proposal provided by the county.  When that happens their bids are thrown out.  Throw them out and you have one entity that provided a valid bid, which was ECSSAA.  Why was that fact not shared with the public?

Now I don’t know about everyone else, but I can tell you if an Ambulance agency is wanting a contract to provide health care related services to my community, they had damn well better be able to follow simple instructions on a bid proposal. If they couldn’t comply with the most basic issue of ensuring a proper bid, one must wonder can we trust the care they would provide.