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Politics Could Stop Proposed Contract, Bid Winner Says
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A hearing was held April 7 before the council's Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Jack Evans (D-Ward 2). But the committee never voted on the contract approval.
W2I's attorney wrote to Gray yesterday, complaining that failure to have a vote "may compromise the integrity" of city contracting. Attorney A. Scott Bolden wrote that Warren Williams's other ventures are irrelevant to the contract.
Brian K. Flowers, the council's general counsel, is expected to defend the chairman's handling of the contract through the legislative process.
W2I won a fair competition on technical and cost grounds, said Eric W. Payne, the head of contracting for Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, who oversees the lottery.
If W2I is bypassed in favor of LTE "not based on objective criteria but based on political considerations, there would be liability for the District," Payne said. "This is what bid protests are made of."
Gandhi could withdraw the contract before the deadline and re-submit it, allowing 45 more days for lobbying.
Payne added that there is not enough time to reopen bids and get a new company in place by next year.
"We will be forced to extend . . . the LTE contract," he said, "and will continue to operate the oldest gaming system in North America and continue to be plagued by performance challenges."
Staff writer Nikita Stewart contributed to this report.
