Anatomy of a contract: Pressure and changes

By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
Sept. 19, 2002
Public Works Director Monty Jackson directed a member of an evaluation team to boost her scores of an engineering firm, apparently so it would win a contract to design an interstate exit to a new industrial park.
Ward 5 Councilman Bobby Smith said the changes gave Engineering Associates an advantage over Neel-Schaffer Inc. that it did not have when the evaluation team first turned in its scores. His comments were confirmed by Audra Buckley, a city planner and member of the evaluation team whose scoring was changed.
Despite the evaluation team's recommendation, the city council first awarded the million-dollar contract to Neel-Schaffer. That decision was vetoed by Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith and, on Tuesday, the council awarded the contract to Engineering Associates.
Evaluation
Councilman Smith said Buckley was told by Jackson to change her scores on an evaluation of Engineering Associates.
The changes were made, Councilman Smith said, to give the firm a higher overall score. The score gave Engineering Associates three more points than Neel-Schaffer Inc.
Buckley said Wednesday that she "concurred with what Bobby (Smith)" said happened but was "not at liberty to discuss the situation in detail."
Smith said that Buckley "felt bad" after turning in the changed scores and went back to the city administration and asked that her evaluation be thrown out, and it was.
Mayor Smith said he vetoed the council's selection of Neel-Schaffer because it was not the top choice of the evaluation committee, running afoul of state and federal guidelines.
Changing numbers
Jackson said he did not tell Buckley to change her scores.
The evaluation sheet listed 11 categories for Buckley and other selection committee members to rate the engineering firm. In her original evaluation, she put question marks in five of the slots.
For example, Jackson told Buckley what numbers to score in the five vacant spots and told her to change the "0" in 10 to an "8," giving Engineering Associates an 18 in the category of "technical and managerial approach proposed to this work and assurances of timely completion."
That change boosted Engineering Associates' score, placing the company three points ahead of Neel-Schaffer Inc. in the committee's evaluation.
When asked why he "suggested" that she change a score of 10 to 18 on part of the evaluation for Engineering Associates, Jackson said, "I was just trying to make the number higher for them …"
After Buckley's evaluation was thrown out, Engineering Associates was left with the highest overall score.
The committee members
The problems arose when a five-member committee began evaluating three firms for the job last month.
The committee included Buckley, Jackson, Jason Gault, the city's assistant engineer, Don Cross, the city's assistant administrative officer and Buck Thomas, a risk manager for Meridian.
The committee was told the choose among three engineering firms Engineering Associates, Neel- Schaffer and Michael Baker.
One committee member, who spoke on the condition of remaining anonymous, said "it was very obvious from the very beginning of the selection process which firm we were supposed to select. That firm was Engineering Associates."
Jackson disagreed.
Thomas voices concerns
Ward 1 Councilman George Thomas said he "felt bad" about how the whole evaluation process was handled.
Thomas said the reason he opted to accept the mayor's veto and approve Engineering Associates on Tuesday was because of two phone calls he received one from a former Mississippi Department of Transportation official and a representative of a U.S. senator from Mississippi. Other officials said the call came from the Washington office of Sen. Thad Cochran.
Thomas said both callers told him that if the council did not use the firm the committee had selected then the city would lose $1 million in federal funding for the project, an exit to the Interstate 20/59 industrial park.
Smith questions callers
Ward 3 Councilman Barbara Henson said Tuesday that she received similar calls from people in Washington. She would not say who they were from.
Councilman Smith also said he believes some of the calls came from U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's office.