Group cries foul over development bid
And as a bidding period for that contract ended Wednesday, it appeared to be the only one — at least on paper.
According to Doug Richins, an administrator in purchasing, the department that processes the bids, when an official request-for-proposals period ended Wednesday afternoon, the group formerly led by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s chief economic adviser Chris Roybal was the only organization that had submitted one.
That makes the selection process easier, said Huntsman's spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi.
But another group, U'n Utah, is crying foul at the process.
In an e-mail sent out to about 20 top officials in the state and city governments, Stephen Jury, the group's managing partner, said he refused to submit a proposal because he claimed the process wasn't fair.
"The evidence strongly suggests this RFP is merely political cover for OED's (Office of Economic Development) intention to employ EDCUtah, regardless of proposals submitted," the e-mail stated. "It's clear, Chris Roybal is determined to orchestrate a coronation not competition, in assuring his former employer is installed as the 'private' sector partner for economic development."
The governor's office responded to the lack of competition by reaffirming the process.
"The reason we did the RFP is so that all groups have the opportunity to submit a proposal," Kikuchi said. "The stipulations were fairly severe, but that was because we wanted to make sure the group that was selected would be able to handle all of the demands of being the provider for recruitment services for the state."
She said Jury's response to the RFP was unfortunate.
"Truly, we could have full-forced this contract," she said, "but we chose to take the high road and do the RFP."
Still, former state economic developer Mary Ann Flinders, one of the 32 fired in January's shake-up of the department, said even an open bidding process is troubling as long as Roybal is involved in the selection process.
"Even though the governor said everyone can come in and bid," she said, "an evaluation committee makes the decision and I would imagine Chris has a large part in deciding who gets the contract. I don't think that's right unless he removes himself from the process."
The formal RFP states that a committee will evaluate the proposals but doesn't specify who will be on the committee.
Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News editorial board last week Roybal had severed all ties with the EDCU, and so Huntsman said he didn't see any potential for a conflict of interest.
The EDCU is a private nonprofit group that is paid by cities, counties, and organizations interested in economic development to recruit companies from out of the state to relocate or expand into Utah.
An attempt was made in 1998 to merge the EDCU with the state department that performed the same function, but opposition from local economic developers and legislation passed during the process ended the effort.
E-mail: dhinckley@desnews.com
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