[at-l] The Kennebec Ferry Contract

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Weary wrote:
>>"...So to announce that one was 'lowest qualified bidder' is to 
>>intentionally use quite deceptive phrasing, in my opinion." reports TJ.
>
>Probably. But it did stop a meaningless discussion for awhile. MATC is an
>incredibly hardworking and dedicated group. It's also a human institution, 
>which
>means it sometimes makes mistakes. I don't find it terribly useful to hash 
>and rehash a done deal, rightly, or wrongly. My only contention is that 
>MATC did not deliberately award the contract to the wrong party. MATC 
>certainly weighed some evidence and made a decision. TJ thinks it was a 
>wrong decision. But it isn't something this list can either decide or 
>reverse. Nor is it useful to do so. It's certainly useful to let the MATC 
>know when you disagree with a decision. It isn't useful to suggest the 
>group is incompetent or crooked without far more evidence than I've heard 
>to date.



Since it was so obvious that you'd done nothing but recycle your own opinion 
in that post, I took it upon myself to call ATC and talk to those who had 
made the decision.

Fact is that 'lowest qualified bidder' is exactly the words they used - but 
any fool could have guessed that. It's standard business jargon.  What you 
didn't tell us was that MATC agonized over the decision for a long time - 
that's why, in TJ's words, the decision wasn't made until late.  They really 
wanted to give it to the local people but because of certification and 
insurance problems, and in view of the creeping litiginousness that we all 
live with, the decision had to be in favor of NEOC.

The decision, in fact, was not made by MATC - it was made at Harpers Ferry.  
And the hope is that the local group will "improve their postion" (i.e. - 
fix the problems with their proposal) and try again next year.  Yeah - the 
contract will be bid again next year.  So if anyone had contact with the 
local people, it was suggested that they be encouraged to try again.

A final question -  if it was a meaningless discussion, why did you keep it 
going, Bob?  And no - I don't expect you'll answer that.

I also found it interesting that you'd rather lie to the list than make a 
phone call to get real facts.

Have a good day anyway,
Jim

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