The Town Council approved 23 contracts to lawyers, accountants, and other professionals at their meeting on Tuesday, spending more than $1 million.
This represents $110,000 less than last year, when the council approved 24 such contracts. But despite the savings to Secaucus taxpayers, some council representatives and members of the community expressed concern over the process.
“I’m pleased we were able to actually save money this year,” said Town Administrator David Drumeler after the meeting. “I was very honest with bidders this year and told them money is tight, budgets are tight, and I really needed them to work with us when it came to their fees. And several responded by offering more competitive fees than last year.”
Government entities routinely award professional service contracts for specialized services to independent companies. It is typical to award them to lawyers, accountants, auditors, lobbyists, and tax assessors. A single contract, even for a small town like Secaucus, can run hundreds of thousands of dollars. Still, these contracts can save a municipality money. By outsourcing the work, a town can use the companies’ services only when needed and avoid the costs associated with full-time labor.
But some charge that the work often goes to the most politically connected firms.
Each year, Secaucus solicits bids from companies and awards contracts based on the town’s past experience with each bidder, the bidders’ reputation, and the amount of the bid. Drumeler, who oversees the bidding process, said Secaucus solicits bids by advertising on the municipal Web site and on the League of Municipalities Web site.
“We actually do more than we are legally required to do,” Drumeler said. “We’re only required to advertise on the municipal Web site. We go further and also advertise through the League of Municipalities because that’s where almost every company seeking government contracts looks for ads.”
Some members of the council, however, believe these sites generated too little response.
Re-bidding motion voted down
“Many of these contracts were not competitively bid, in my opinion,” Town Councilman John Bueckner said at the meeting. “Out of 23 or 24 contracts, I think we only had 27 bidders.”
Bueckner and Town Councilman Michael Gonnelli noted that several contracts had only one or two bidders. Bueckner added that broader advertising in Secaucus and northern New Jersey newspapers, and on their Web sites, might have generated more response.
“We felt these contracts should have been tabled and the contracts should have been re-bid, and I made a motion for the governing body to do that. But of course we were outvoted,” Gonnelli said the day after the council meeting.
According to Drumeler, municipalities are not required to get a minimum number of bids before awarding a contract, as is often the case in the private sector.
Bueckner, Gonnelli, and Councilman Gary Jeffas – the Independents on the council – voted to table a vote on the contracts to allow more time for review and discussion. They noted that the governing body received hundreds of pages of contract-related documents the day before the meeting. Democrats on the council – Mayor Dennis Elwell, Dawn McAdam, John Shinnick, and John Reilly – voted against Gonnelli’s motion.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, members of the community also questioned why the town didn’t attract more bidders.
“I used to manage property. And when I would take bids, I always got four bids,” said resident Anthony Aiello, who is now retired. “That was the rule of thumb. Four bids should always be the minimum. Then I would throw out the highest bid, throw out the lowest bid, and pick something in the middle. I don’t know how you award a contract with just one bid.”
“If people really knew about these contracts they would bid.” – John Bruno
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“We know people are looking for work now,” Bruno said. “It seems to me, if people really knew about these contracts they would bid. You should advertise in as many places as possible. I don’t know why you wouldn’t.”
Politically connected?
The $20,000 contract awarded to public relations consulting firm Strategic Message in Media was among the most controversial contracts approved.
The company was hired to do public relations work for Secaucus and has sporadically published “Secaucus Scene,” a newsletter. But the newsletter hasn’t been seen in many months, leaving some council members to wonder what the town is paying for.
In addition, the company has done campaign work for Elwell and other Democratic candidates throughout Hudson County.
“That, to me, would seem to be a conflict of interest,” Gonnelli said.
Town Attorney Frank Leanza, however, said it is not.
Can it be done for less?
Other contracts generated heated discussion as well.
The Independents on the council believe that street sweeping and grant writing, work currently done by professional service providers, could be done more cheaply by current town employees and the Department of Public Works.
Bueckner and Gonnelli also questioned whether work done by attorney Daniel Beck could be done by Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (32nd Dist.).
Beck, who was awarded a $24,000 contract, lobbies in Trenton on Secaucus’ behalf on various issues.
Mayor Elwell, however, said this suggestion would not benefit the town.
“Assemblyman Prieto is a Democrat. Mr. Beck is a Republican and we are using him to get to Republican legislators,” Elwell said. “He has been very effective in that role. And Mr. Prieto specifically requested that we give him help in Trenton so he doesn’t have to work for the town’s behalf alone.”
The mayor also stated that several companies awarded contracts do not charge the town the full amount approved and end up billing the town less money.
Reach E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.