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More than two dozen consultants in the Baltimore mayor’s information technology office work for a Rockville company that sold hundreds of thousands of dollars of phone-related equipment to the office under a no-bid contract.
City Comptroller Joan Pratt raised concerns Wednesday about the purchase of more than $650,000 in equipment from Digicon Corp. because of the number of company employees working in the technology office. The mayor’s spokesman says the office has a standing contract with Digicon that allows purchases without bidding.
Pratt says the mayor is trying to take the project from Pratt’s office and avoid competitive bidding requirements — at taxpayers’ expense.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake demanded an apology, saying the transactions were proper.
The Mayor is going to have to really work hard to circumvent this issue. I will say that these dealings go on constantly and cost city taxpayers hundreds of millions. Just a few months ago we had a bid on services that the Mayor and Board of Estimates gave to a Texas company for $375,000 higher than a qualified local business bid. All this money could easily pay to keep community assets open and youth programs functioning. Baltimore has plenty of money….we just need an oversight system which the council has promised to bring to vote!