From My Puppy Pulpit

A Load of Garbage
(AKA Looking a Custodial Gift Horse in the Mouth)

The other day Bongo posted a “Snowism” about how Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf are insisting that the custodial contract be rebid to get a better price, and how they are not interested in using the same logic to seek a better price for the landscaping contract.

Did Bongo mention that the landscaping contract is currently held by Moore Turf Care? Bongo thought it was one of the many times when the rules didn’t apply to their political friends the Moore’s. Remember, Snow and Seedorf have actively advocated for the Moore’s on many occasions, regarding snow removal issues/contracts, attempts to censor reading material at Huntley High School, and the Moore's current living situation, where they live rent and tax free on taxpayer-owned property.

With regard to rebidding the custodial contract, Bongo has a bone to pick with all seven board members.

When the current custodial vendor learned that the district was going to seek a lower bid, they came back with a much better price for this upcoming year. So if the object was to get a better price, they already had achieved that goal. Bongo thinks that as soon as the vendor came back with a significantly better price, the board should have immediately renewed the contract with their trusted and reliable vendor.

But it appears that the “board majority,” this time including Snow and Seedorf, is looking that gift horse in the mouth. At the building committee level, board members Kevin Gentry, Tony Quagliano and Aileen Seedorf recommended rebidding the contract, though Gentry did voice initial hesitation. Board president Shawn Green and board member Snow also voiced their interest in seeking new bids. Only Mike Skala and Kim Skaja voiced ongoing opposition to rebidding, citing the risk of losing a good vendor to an unknown and possibly less reliable vendor. Still, neither Skaja nor Skala really dug their heels in and really fought for their position.

On this issue, Bongo says “four paws down” to all seven board members.

The school board is taking a mighty big risk by following through with the rebidding process for the custodial contract. Rules for competitive bidding are very strict with regard to which vendor the district must choose in a competitive bidding situation. What is keeping a “Moore Custodial Care” type of business from popping up, low-balling the bid, and taking the contract away from a trusted and reliable vendor with whom the district has had very few problems? The District can be very specific with the bid requirements, but again, the law is very strict about how stringent those requirements are allowed to be.

It’s a gamble; one Bongo believes is not worth taking. Besides, did any of the seven think about the fact that two of the three top administrative posts are being manned by interim employees right now and that the lion’s share of this rebidding work will probably fall on Dr. Burkey and Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Doug Renkosik? Bongo was watching when Renkosik told the board to be prepared for the fact that he would be able to work on very little else over the next several weeks in order to get the rebidding process completed.

Is this really a good decision since the administrative office is currently understaffed and the goal of achieving a better price for custodial services had already been achieved?

Maybe the eventual outcome will be favorable, and the ultimate contract price will be even lower than what the current vendor suggested a few weeks ago, and the new vendor will be equally as reliable. Or better yet, maybe the current vendor will come in with an even lower offer.

Or maybe the district will get stuck with another under-qualified and underperforming vendor (shouldn’t they have learned their lesson with snow removal last year?) who simply looked good on paper.

This is one time Bongo hopes he’s wrong.

UPDATE: April 27:
Bongo has received information and feels compelled to issue a correction to this post. Board member Gentry was not in attendance at the committee meeting where it was learned that the current custodial vendor had come back with a reduced price for this upcoming year. He was out of town on a business trip. Bongo thinks that had he been there in person, Mr. Gentry may very well have opposed moving forward with the rebidding of the contract. Not that it would have mattered though. The other two members of the building committee seemed very interested in moving forward. Bongo regrets the error and apologizes to his readers and to Mr. Gentry.