Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Open Letter From County Commissioner Xavier Suarez. By Geniusofdespair


Commissioner Suarez voted NOT to reject the bid of the company recommended by the Mayor and staff for the baggage wrap contract. It was 9 to 2. Commissioner Suarez and Commissioner Monestime were the only two to vote no. I wrote about this yesterday and earlier in the week. Both companies had a gaggle of lobbyists trying to influence the County Commissioners. I predicted the outcome based on the lobbyists hired.
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Your readers should know that from day one I have fought to eliminate the influence of lobbyists in our public bidding process. This is in line with my long-standing position that public contracts should be price-competitive and should comply with the time-tested system of sealed bidding, which guarantees impartiality and transparency.

In the case of the Miami International Airport baggage wrapping contract bid, I proposed two alternatives to the administration:

1) To allow free competition at MIA to all qualified bidders, which would reduce the price to the consumer; or, in the alternative,
2) To pre-qualify all bidders and submit sealed bids to the Clerk, to be opened and awarded in open Commission session based simply on the bottom line.

I will continue to push for these reforms, whose indirect effect is to negate the influence and role of lobbyists. I did this, for eight years as Mayor of Miami, and went so far as to include bond counsel awards, resulting in the lowest price ever ($125/hour for the winning bidder).

I will continue to push for these reforms.

Xavier L. Suarez
Commissioner District 7


18 comments:

Al Crespo said...

To bad he hasn't managed to convince his son to behave in the same manner.

Anonymous said...

It's a step in the right direction the Commission should take. Enough is enough with these contracts. MIA as a whole is one of the biggest tax funded liability's we have. It would make even Loria blush! (it actually may run in line with the golden parachutes for retired county hall employees!)

Geniusofdespair said...

Let's keep family members out of this conversation. When County Commissioners want to do something positive, lets get them on record and not get on tangents. I reinforce good behavior.

Anonymous said...

Agree. I think we want to get Suarez on the right track. He has been all over the place. Let him focus on good things we need done. At least he is not a Lynda Bell clone.

Al Crespo said...

His son is a City Commissioner, running for Mayor who is a sock puppet for lobbyist Steve Marin. I think that that is relevant to any conversation about Papa Suarez, given the relationships that exist in this community that seldom get discussed to the degree that they merit, given the impact that these relationships have on public policy.

Geniusofdespair said...

And Regalado is not a sock puppet for Armando Gutierrez? When they both have BAD LOBBYISTS, I can't favor one bad lobbyist over another.

Armando is just as bad as Marin if not much worse. You have to fight one bad one with another. I wouldn't blame him if he also brought in Sasha Tirador. Unfortunately campaigns are won with disgusting, dregs of the earth campaign managers and lobbyists.

Geniusofdespair said...

BTW, I do not have a preference in this race. But, I do want to stay on topic with the County. I leave the City in your hands Al. Getting County Commissioners to do something good is alway a high for me. Don't rain on my parade.

Anonymous said...

Suarez is positioning his son to become the City of Miami mayor, he has become a major butt munch to Marc Sarnoff to get help getting there. GOD, what level of nepotism do you condone?

Geniusofdespair said...

Why wouldn't a father want to help his son. Some of you are naive.

Anonymous said...

Someone should look up the word before using it.

Anonymous said...

Well, you are right, why not, it is after all the age of Kim Jong Un, Bashar Al Assad and let's not forget George W. Bush.

Anonymous said...

If the Commissioner is reading this, I would love to know how your second option is good for anyone? Not only does it send the message that the county could care less about technical aspects of a bid and the only thing they care about is as you say "the bottom line" aka Money. How does this option protect the County from High/Low ball bids?

Why not put out an RFP/RFQ for a Management Contract for this baggage wrapping? Award it to the company that can generate the most sales by running it the most efficiently. The airport keeps all the money and only has to pay the management fee. The Airport can also control the prices, so the community doesn't have to keep paying these ridiculous prices. Oh wait, your "bottom line" is at the expense of your constituents, right?

Your first option is also a good suggestion if done correctly. They don't necessarily have to work right next to each other. Give half the airport to one company and half to the other. I guarantee it will drive down prices, but of course, it will affect your "bottom line".

Commissioner Suarez, I couldn't agree with you more about lobbyists. It's a shame our County, City, State and Country has become what it has because of lobbyists. I'm curious though... do you have any comment to the remarks being made that the company you voted for (by not voting against the mayor's recommendation) donated $25k to your son's PAC?

Anonymous said...

Lobbyists have far too much influence. They use money to get close to elected officials and capture their votes. The taxpayers and residents are getting screwed. City of Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez often votes to support his campaign contribuors rather than the taxpayers. Why?

Anonymous said...

Come on guys .
Commissioner Suarez won't discuss the $25,000 that Sinapsis gave his son's PAC because he knows it would be embarrassing. These side deals happen all the time. If we don't like them, then we can vote for someone else. Unfortunately the older uneducated voters in Little Havana and Flagami will vote for anybody as long as you give tthem a free turkey in November. It's been a while since I met a solid candidate which I can say will," do the right thing". Someone enlighten me!

Anonymous said...

Look,at what Francis Suarez did at last commission meeting. He actually disappeared during the Scotty's landing debate to no doubt get coached by Steve Marin. Moments later Sarnoff calls fora10 minute adjournment and appears flustered..... Sarnoff is a scumbag and Suarez is following his footsteps...Francis you need to workmforbus not the scumbag lobbyists. Remember that or you WILL lose mayoral election.

Anonymous said...

Although, Regalado is worse.

Anonymous said...

The post above refers to the idea of the county giving a management contract for the baggage wrapping, the airport keeps all the revenue & pays the operator a fee (simply put, intervention); this would be a great idea if the airport had created & or financed the start up of the business, paid all the professionals in DC & local to keep business alive after 9/11, manufacture & maintained equipment, etc, etc., you know the little details that us entrepreneurs have to content with. What you're describing is socialism/communism; we the people work for the state. One of the main reason that immigrants came/come to this country was & is to get always from that mentality; let freedom ring.
This is the greatest country in the world & one of the primary reasons for that is free enterprise, what you're proposing has failed over & over again.
How would you feel if you purchase a piece of land, work hard @ getting it ready to accept a crop, plant a crop & just as you're about to start harvesting, government steps in, contracts you to harvest but retains ownership of all the benefits of our hard labor; perfect comparison here.
I know, I brought this concept to market & I've spent the last 24+ years working on this idea, have poured my heart & soul into it, 80% of all the profit made has been pumped back into it & now that is ready to harvest, it's been pretty much taken away, how do you see fairness in that?
The only reason we're willing to accept as we have the deal we just won is simple, this is our home base, we are locals & care about our work force & by exposing the ill tactics of the completion here should make the rest of the global aviation community realize that what has taken place here could take place there, not a healthy thing.
Were you aware that we provided medical coverage to all our employees & for 2 years the competition did not? That when pressed by auditors to provide daily sales ledgers they refused & now said that is because those numbers are trade secret?
The list goes on on irregularities; we have played by the rules, not even one blemish against us, except lies & innuendos; the commission heard an auditor said that we also failed to provide all our records when audited over 10 yr ago & this is a blatant lie, we passed we flying colors; when the previous bid came out we asked, begged & demanded in writing to be audited in order to prove that the offer by the other company was shady, as it turned out to be. But as has been said by many; is all about $$$, regardless of where the $$$$ comes from, shameful.
Think about the above & if you still think the airport should own this business & give a management fee contract, you live in the wrong country; Venezuela, Cuba, etc might fit you better.
Just my humble opinion.
ER

Anonymous said...

I'm so tired of people crying "communism" when they don't agree with something.

The fact of the matter is that we would all be in a better place if government at ALL level ran like a business. The smartest business decision would be to run the operation yourself, and hire the best company you can find to run it. Period. That's not communism, that's good business.

If you were getting quotes to have construction at your house, would you hire a guy simply because he was the first contractor in town? That makes no sense.

If you feel this is "unfair" then maybe you should start a business in this great country of ours that doesn't involve the government.

By your own admission, you've been in this for over 20 years? How long exactly do you feel you should have sole right (don't want to use the word "monopoly") to this business? Let's face it, nothing lasts forever.

I mean 9/11 was 10 years ago, even if it impacted your business for 3-4 years, you still had 5 years of uninterrupted profitable business. Last time I checked, 5 years is about the average length of government contracts.