When the issue is serving travelers, the higher bid wins out

Sadly, I have been taping Clark County Commission meetings on television, partly for column ideas, and partly for comic relief.

Take the Sept. 20 meeting for instance. Please.

What seemed like a rather boring discussion over which company should get a contract to maintain and service elevators, escalators and people movers at McCarran International Airport provided an award-winning performance by an attorney who can, like all attorneys, take diametrically opposite positions, depending on the day and the client.

A low bid is best, except when the low bid is not his client. Then the low bid isn’t the best. Or so argued Las Vegas attorney Chris Kaempfer, known for his skill at persuading persuadable county commissioners.

Aviation Director Randall Walker had solicited a request for proposal to maintain elevators, escalators and moving walkways . Now, a request for proposal isn’t like a request for bid. A proposal means the county is looking for the best value, not the cheapest bid. In a request for bid, the lowest bid usually is preferred.

When airport officials evaluated the contenders, KONE Inc., which currently has the contract, was recommended by Walker because it offered better service in its plan. But if negotiations with KONE were unsuccessful, then ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corp., would be Walker’s second choice. Both are solid companies.

There was no ambiguity about Walker’s recommendation of KONE, except to Commissioner Tom Collins, who kept saying Walker was recommending both companies. Except he wasn’t. Walker clearly explained that in his presentation, and it also was clear in the backup materials.

The primary reason KONE got the nod was because KONE would devote 15 people to the job, including seven on the graveyard shift when the airport prefers maintenance work be done. ThyssenKrupp would provide 12 people but only four on graveyard.

KONE was not the lowest bidder. ThyssenKrupp was.

Any regular reader knows I like to save tax dollars, but I also believe sometimes you get what you pay for.

With three options on the table and negotiable with the contract, KONE was between $540,000 and $1.1 million per year higher than ThyssenKrupp. That could cost as much as $7 million-plus over seven years.

Walker stressed repeatedly how in 2000, the airport went with the lowest bidder and received the worst service ever.

ThyssenKrupp had the contract from 1988 to 1999. In 2000, ThyssenKrupp wasn’t the lowest bidder, so the contract went to a company that created massive problems for the airport. In 2005, with the equipment in disrepair, Walker said, KONE was the only bidder that wanted the job because it was considered a high-risk bid. ThyssenKrupp didn’t bid.

Now that KONE has put substantial effort into upgrading and repairing equipment that hadn’t been well cared for over five years, ThyssenKrupp wants back in.

Now here’s the comedy. Kaempfer did a compelling job of urging commissioners to vote for the least expensive proposal from ThyssenKrupp, his client.

“Respectfully, when did a million dollars stop to mean something,” Kaempfer said at the Sept. 20 meeting. When social services have been cut and county employees have been laid off, he said, “can we really allow them to read in the newspaper that we have $1 million more for an elevator contract, but we don’t have enough money to pay their salary?”

What he didn’t say is that this contract is paid for by the airport budget. That’s separate from the county budget, and it’s paid by fees charged to airlines. If Walker wants to pay $1 million more a year to make sure elevators, escalators and people movers are working so that 40 million people a year aren’t stuck hauling their luggage up and down stairs, give him some credit for thinking about what’s the best service for travelers, including locals.

If you have suffered through a breakdown in this service during a busy time at the airport (and I have), then ask yourself whether fixing people movers fast is worth a higher price? Especially because the airlines are paying for it, mostly through fees on airborne tourists.

Kaempfer was very persuasive about low bids. But saving money certainly isn’t his pitch when he’s representing Veolia Transportation before the Regional Transportation Commission. Then he’s advocating for Veolia’s bus contract proposal, which is $50 million higher than First Transit.

KONE won out Tuesday in a 4-3 vote.

Collins, Steve Sisolak and Chris Giunchigliani voted against KONE, while Susan Brager, Larry Brown, Mary Beth Scow and Lawrence Weekly went with KONE.

Collins ignored Walker’s advice about better service and said the commission should go with the lowest bid.

Sisolak and Giunchigliani questioned whether KONE had been receiving too much money because the company had lowered its bid by nearly $169,000 a month from its last contract. They questioned whether KONE had been overcharging in the first contract, though that was the period the system needed the most work.

Televising government meetings really does provide insight into the logic, or illogic, of our elected leaders, their understanding or lack thereof.

But sometimes, it’s nothing they say publicly that drives their votes. Sometimes, there’s a back story that may motivate them, consciously or unconsciously.

When you see prickly exchanges between Walker and Sisolak, it’s hard to forget that Sisolak and Walker butted heads years ago over Walker’s refusal to pay Sisolak after setting height limits on Sisolak’s land near the airport.

Sisolak won a court case in 2003, and by the time it was resolved in 2006 by the Nevada Supreme Court, the judgment was up to $23.5 million with interest and legal fees.

Let’s just say it’s obvious the two men are not bosom buddies.

I plan to keep watching our government at work, and if you have the time, or a recorder, you might, too.

Check my blog for another example of Kaempfer arguing for the low bidder Tuesday and losing.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison