No Bid Accepted.

The City Council was unable to muster a consensus Tuesday evening on who should be awarded the electrical contract for the new girls softball fields. The Council voted 5-3 to accept a bid, but a majority of elected Council members is necessary to pass an ordinance. Members Jim McPheeters and Bill Fortune were absent.

The division came as a discussion of whether a business located within the City should have an advantage over business outside which bid on City projects.

Fourth Ward Council member Bill Putnam, Jr. began the process by moving to amend the ordinance to accept the low bid of $48,040 submitted by Bill’s Electric from Webb City. Putnam moved to change the contractor to C&M Electric from Carthage and the amount to $49,600. City code allows for the Council to take what they consider to be the best bid and to give special consideration to local businesses, but does not specify what criteria is to be used for that determination. There was no discussion concerning the fact that a third bidder, Joplin Industrial also submitted a bid of $48,847.

Council member Larry Ross spoke against the amendment.

"I too would like to see local contractors doing business with the City," said Ross. "However, if we start awarding contracts to the City even though they’re higher, it’s my opinion that we are going to cause the out-of-town bidders (to stop submitting bids)."

The Special Services Committee recommended the low bid. Ross is Chair of that Committee. Committee member Jackie Boyer spoke in favor of using the low bid, as did Council member J.D. Whitledge. Whitledge said he would like to see some guidelines in the City purchasing manual to specify a percentage of advantage.

Mayor Johnson called the practice of not taking the low bid a "can of worms."

Council member Jim Woestman spoke for the amendment favoring the local contractor.

"I don’t think you can say a one, two, or five percent advantage," said Woestman, "I think each bid has to be on its own merit."

The vote on the amendment was 4-4 with the Mayor breaking the tie defeating the amendment. Tobrock, Wells, Putnam and Woestman voted in favor. Ross, Boyer, Whitledge, and Stearnes voted against.

The vote on the contract as originally presented was 5-3 with Woestman joining the yea votes.

The issue can be revisited at the next Council meeting. It can be assumed that member Bill Fortune will be at that meeting, but Jim McPheeters is not expected to attend. With nine members present, the four who voted for favoring the local business could still halt the bill awarding the contract. If they hold fast, a 5-4 vote would result in another delay of completing the electrical work at the ball fields.

The budget as recommended by the Budget Committee was in first reading at the Council meetin’ Tuesday.

The question of gettin’ some changes made was brought up and the answer was slow in comin’. The answer is yes. The problem has always been that once the document is prepared for ever’one to see, nobody wants to go back and change it.

Council members not on the Budget Committee are encouraged to attend budget sessions, but in actual practice, have very little influence over what is eventually recommended. The result is the four on the Committee who actually vote on various aspects of the final document pretty much control the process. It’s hard to get anyone to break ranks once the final recommendation is made, making it practically impossible to get the 6 votes necessary for a change.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

I’ve still got my first new car, a red 1987 Toyota MR2. We had a party for its 100,000th-mile birthday a year or two ago and it’s still running well. I have a repainting question. One firm recommends painting it the same exact color, so they can cut corners and not paint the door jambs and other places where I won’t really notice it. They say this will save me money because they won’t have to take off body parts and hardware.

I have no objection to saving a little money, but I want to make sure I get a good paint job, since I plan on keeping this car through its 200,000th-and 300,000th-mile birthdays. Rust isn’t a problem where I live. Should I have the car thoroughly repainted inside and out, or is it OK to save a few bucks and just paint the parts that show.-Marcy

TOM: If you were planning to, say, sell the car to your brother, then I’d say fine, cheap out and don’t paint the door jambs.

RAY: But since you obviously love this car and are planning to keep it for the long haul, I’d get a real paint job, Marcy. It’s not much more expensive, and a real body shop might even, for example, roll up the windows before spraying on the paint.

TOM: More important, Marcy, in my opinion, you can’t paint the car the same color. After spending all that money, the goal is to feel like you’ve got a brand-new car. And to do that, it has to be a brand-new color.

RAY: Just don’t make the same mistake my brother did. Be sure that the new exterior color you pick goes with the car’s existing interior.

TOM: How was I supposed to know that a metallic burnt-orange body clashes with snot green seat?