The job order contracts that Region 19 just issued deserve further attention. See Competitive Bidding? — Baloney!
The masthead of their web site reads “Serving El Paso and Hudspeth Counties”. They are more properly known as “Education Service Center — Region 19”. Again from the front page of their web site “The purpose of Education Service Center (ESC)-Region 19 is to aid teachers and administrators in the El Paso area in their role as educators of our children.”
They are a service organization for kindergarten through high school institutions in El Paso and Hudspeth.
Why then did they just issue contracts for National Job Order Contracting Services?
National? Yes the firms are allowed to offer services under these contracts in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming.
Oh, and by the way Texas too. For good measure two of the seventeen firms are allowed to offer their services in “all states and US territories”.
That’s pretty impressive. Little ole El Paso based Region 19 is competent to manage construction specifics in every state of the Union as well as all of the United States territories.
We know better.
What are they doing here? Texas law allows certain state government entities to issue job order contracts for construction. Texas law also allows certain groups (including not for profits, and out of state groups) to piggyback on existing contracts issued by other agencies. That way an entity like the department of something-or-other in let’s say Puerto Rico can buy off of the Region 19 contract if the laws in Puerto Rico allow it.
Why would Region 19 bother? I have not found out yet what the amount is but Region 19 can get a percentage or fee from the contractor. In the case of the Houston based group that the City of El Paso has been buying from the fee is 4%. The construction company has to pay 4% of what if charges El Paso agencies to Houston.
So Region 19 is doing it for money. I seriously doubt that they have expertise in every state and territory of our country but that does not evidently matter. They are allowing governments to avoid competitive bidding and charging a fee for the chicanery.
Are they so good at what they do for us locally that they have extra time to manage construction in every state?
What are you called when you make money by allowing someone to avoid doing what is right?
Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides:
Who cover faults, at last shame them derides
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 