(2007-02-01) Nyc Bus Consultant Contracting Process

There's been a big mess this week in Educating Kids In Nyc, at least in terms of getting them to school on the School Bus.

There are meta issues around the selection of the consultants in charge of recommending the change, Alvarez And Marsel. And, like some other contractors hired by the Department Of Education, it got the work without having to go through a bidding processing. Even though Mike Bloomberg has repeatedly said that he - and he alone - controls the schools, the department wriggles out of the contracting rules that apply to other city agencies by saying the education department is an agency of the state. Such convoluted reasoning - and the hiring of Alvarez & Marsal - prompted City Comptroller William Thompson to say in September, "The Department of Education is not above the law even if they act as if they are." And City Council education committee chair Robert Jackson, complained, "There is virtually no oversight of the Department of Education's contracting practices even though D.O.E. is the single largest purchaser of goods and services among city agencies." Questioned about the deal, contracting chief DavidRoss told an irate City Council committee that "everyone knew" Alvarez would win the contract so there was little point spending time on competitive bidding. "How did they know Alvarez would win?" the Voice reported. "Well, Alvarez had done work in other cities, but most importantly, Ross said, `They had people on the ground.' Why did they have people on the ground? Because Alvarez was already working in the schools on a contract funded by the private FundForPublicSchools. Who chairs the Fund for Public Schools? Chancellor Joel Klein."