Bruce R. Meyer, Chairman, City of
Questionable City of
In my capacity as Chairman of the Orange Citizens Budget
Advisory Committee, I reviewed various contracts and supporting
documents. I have questioned the Business Administrator on specifics but have
ended up with more questions than I started with. These are new contracts
operating on a temporary city budget (separate compliance question). I
am asking for some guidance on proper compliance with NJSA 40A:11-1 et
seq. These are two examples.
From the City of
1.
Communications Consultant Franklin Baraff
There was no RFP and no advertisement
in the official paper. The amount differs from that voted on by the
Council. Communications Consultant or PR contract, I do not
think it qualifies as an “extraordinary, unspecified service”.
*228-2008 A
resolution authorizing the awarding of a non-fair and open contract for
Franklin L. Baraff Communications, 41 Tomahawk Street,
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, to provide communications consulting services to
the City of Orange Township in an amount not to exceed $40,500.
2.
IT support Breaker Group 12/1/2008- 11/30/2009
$36,000
3.
Telecommunications Breaker Group 12/1.2008
– 7/31.2009 $38,000
There was no RFP or public
notice. The BA says it is one contract/continuation of an existing contract but
I can find no documentation to confirm this. The services in question are
vague and the pressure on the Council to pass, was
high. In a public hearing, the BA has said it is for our “mainframe“ but at
other times alluded to the contract as meeting needs of basic office computer
maintenance. She has also said that it is inclusive of hardware – are we buying
a new system? Who knows.
*348-2008 A resolution awarding a contract to Breaker Group Inc. 32
Mill Street, Mount Holly, NJ 08060 for information technology support services
commencing November 6, 2008 through June 30,
2009 in an amount not to exceed $36,000. (Meeting
The city council is clueless on the actual content of
these contracts but voted for them anyway.
Any observations or suggestions for our committee would be
appreciated.
Thank You,
Bruce
Meyer
by
email, hard copy to follow