The February 11, 2014 city council agenda shows that council will consider hiring a firm to help us with the “digital wall” that voters approved as part of the quality of life bonds.
This will be the second such wall on the planet with the other one at the Museum of Copenhagen.
The city has evidently decided to use the product marketed under the TouchCity brand. The agenda proposes a “sole source” procurement since there is only one company in the world that makes the TouchCity brand. That is obvious but it does not mean that other companies could not bid on the work.
The agenda backup material contains more of the city spin when it says “TouchCity Wall (Digital Wall) was overwhelmingly supported by the voters in November 2012 bond election [sic].”
Bunk
None of us voted for a TouchCity Wall. We voted for a digital wall and now staff wants to buy a particular brand so they tell us that we voted for that brand.
The company that makes TouchCity is headquartered in New Zealand.
Train wreck
The proposed contract (read it here) is a train wreck waiting to happen. Among other problems:
- It contemplates that the wall will be “integrated into a “welcome pavilion” to be built by others onto the exterior of the museum”. The pavilion has not been built and as far as we know has not been funded. The city has been looking for someone to donate the one million dollars needed.
- The contract contemplates completion in December 2014. Remember that the “welcome pavilion” has not been built yet.
- The specifications are almost non-existent. “The first phase of the work will also see the parties agree and document a process path and schedule for the completion of the rest of the phases of work …”.
- The normal “Applicable Law and Venue” portion of city contracts (where Texas law is said to govern the contract and El Paso is where any lawsuits will be tried) does not seem to be part of the contract. In fact the parties agree to mediation where the party picking the mediator “will be instructed to take the international nature of this Agreement into account when appointing a mediator”.
- Roughly $1.8 million will be paid to the firm for services, not product.
- Part of the work will be done by the New Zealand firm, part by the city, and the equipment will be acquired from other firms. The equipment to be acquired separately is projected to cost over half a million dollars. This is a recipe for finger pointing.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Your description of this project sounds very similar to the manner in which the Affordable Care Act website was developed and managed. We all know how that turned out both operationally and financially.
Joyce Wilson’s comment about ballpark construction also applies to the Wall: “We won’t know how much it costs until it is finished.”
This project is just another brick in the wall.
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This is going to be a maintenance nightmare. In 3 years it will be obsolete. Dumb idea but they have to do it since it was “voted” upon. Leave it to city hall to come up with dumb ideas that cost money.
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City Council voted today to award the digital wall no-bid contract to Gibson Group CityTouch. Gibson Group is, in its own words, an award-winning producer of high-end TV programs. It’s credits? Reality tv shows like “Prison Families” and “Undercover”. Need I say more?
Times reporter Cindy Ramirez posted tweets promoting and more or less endorsing the wall. She is “fascinated by the possibilities”. I feel better now that she has weighed in with her opinion. It’s all good.
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How many local jobs will the multimillion-dollar digital wall create?
How many dollars will be spent with local suppliers?
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