Someone sent this in:
Don’t expect to begin enjoying San Jacinto Park anytime soon. elpasonaturally has learned that the contractor, Basic IDIQ, has defaultied. Item 16.3 on next week’s regular City Council agenda simply reads “Discussion and action on the construction of San Jacinto Park.” It was placed on the agenda by Rep. Cortney Niland. The park is in her district. There are no back-up materials for this agenda item. Executive Session Item 2 reads “San Jacinto Plaza Redesign, Solicitation No. 2014-043 (551.071)” Again no supporting materials.
Click on “Watch Live San Jacinto Construction” on the city’s web site, you will get THIS. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.”
“It’s another east side sports park,” I heard from several people today.
3 comments:
Reputable El Paso engineers and contractors have been saying that Basic was absolutely the wrong company. The City hired them anyway.The Department of Engineering was overseeing this project. They could have at any time pulled the plug on the project. They did not. One wonders whether City Manager, Tommy Gonzalez, will still look favorably on Engineering Director, Irene Ramirez. He shouldn’t.
At least we saved the trees (or most of them) for now. The question now arises whether the trees will be properly maintained and cared for during what will be a very long time to finish the park.
elpasospeak 
Thanks for quoting my post. http://elpasonaturally.blogspot.com/2015/05/basic-idiq-defaults-on-plaza-park.html
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Jim, you are always on top of the news, thanks for your posts!
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hahaha. i never cared for that park anyway. but i care about how the taxpayers got ripped off by a company who builds doghouses.
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Incompetent people leading other incompetent people.
Cortney Niland was TRAINED by an Investment / banking company that got bailout funds about 6-7 years ago.
It was like Merrill Lynch or AAG or something like that.
What does THAT tell you ?
It used to be mentioned on her web site. . . but I dont see it now.
(The name of the Investment/ banking firm she used to work for and was TRAINED by.)
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There is NO rational excuse and demonstrates poor leadership at the TOP…oh, wait we just re-elected them again…GOOD GRIEF!
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According to Basic ISIQ’s website, they “deliver turnkey, fast turnaround projects. Our fast cycle time approach often reduces the delivery time and lowers the cost to clients without compromising the final product. Through delegated decision making, we are able to save time by eliminating the bidding process on the front end of a project through fixed-price contracts. Customers rely on Basic IDIQ to deliver quality projects quickly and competitively.”
So much for truth in advertising.
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Like all things El Paso City Council, inept and corrupt as the day is long. We elect these mental midgets and now we complain about their ineptitude. Some things just never change.
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David K predicted this last year on his blog because Basic’s bid was half what the local contractors bid. I thought that, finally, someone was showing that the local contractors have been gouging the city for years, but I was wrong if this is true. DK was correct, it seems.
As for city Engineering, no one has been wrong about their incompetence.
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Unacceptable, but what can we expect? Y’all voted them all back into office, didn’t you? (I voted, but I promise you, I did not vote for the incumbent for my district).
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David K called this one right in January of last year:
“It all ended when Rep. Niland made an impassioned speech on behalf of Basic IDIQ even going as far as praising their previous work for the city and then calling for the vote. … The result is that Niland launched her own personal Shawver Park debacle today by getting out in front and vouching for a very suspect bid.”
– See more at: http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/2014/01/#sthash.hlFHXxOc.dpuf
The San Jacinto Plaza project was conspicuously absent from her list of bragging points during her election campaign.
I wonder if Basic IDIQ contributed to her campaigns.
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More background information:
https://elpasospeak.com/?s=the+price+is+unless
Brutus
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Go to http://agenda.elpasotexas.gov/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=85&doctype=AGENDA and click on item 9.2
The video will show the one act play in it’s full glory.
Brutus
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Niland makes a point of telling the IDIQ rep and everyone at the council meeting that she spends time at job sites checking up on contractors and making sure things are going right. Then why is this project so screwed up?
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One word: Niland.
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