Six Firms Eye Central City Services Pact

CENTRAL — Six firms have requested documents necessary to make proposals to provide all city services in the City of Central when the current contract with CH2MHILL expires June 30.

The City of Central is the only municipality in the nation that has privatized all city services and has a Master Privatization Agreement with a single private firm.

The agreement with CH2MHILL has been the subject of controversy and litigation because of the lack of transparency in the contract.

Central pays CH2MHILL almost $4 million a year but receives no breakdown on how the money is spent, nor are the funds subject to audit.  Louisiana’s 1st Circuit Court of Appeal is now considering a suit by the Central City News seeking to insure that records in the hands of CH2MHILL are public records if they pertain to the administration of city government.

Central Mayor Mac Watts has proceeded with drafting of a contract and has sent out Requests for Proposals without seeking approval by the City Council, and that has drawn objections from some City Council members.

City Councilman Tony LoBue has requested an opinion from City Attorney Sheri Morris on what role the City Council gets to play in drafting a privatization contract and in the selection of the City Contractor.

Although the Mayor has issued a Request for Proposals, the City Council has not voted on:

• Whether Central should have Master Privatization Agreement after June 30, 2011.

• What services should be privatized or whether there should be an agreement with a single contractor or several different contractors to provide targeted city services.

• What the terms of such contract should be.

• The length of the contract.

The Request for Proposals issued by Watts provides a very specific contract, which would be binding on the city for five years, two years beyond the term of the current Mayor and City Council.

Watts has appointed a nine-member committee to review Requests for Proposals.  He says he will follow their recommendation.

Some Councilmen have said they want to be involved in the selection process and should not have to face a take-it-or-leave choice on what firm to select.  Under the state’s Lawrason Act, the Council apparently has the power to approve or disapprove the Mayor’s final proposed contract.

The six companies that have filed documents enabling them to make Requests for Proposals under Watts’ plan are:

• CH2MHILL — A Denver-based $6 billion international firm that has the current privatization contact.

• CSRS, Inc., which would be doing business as Central Municipal Services Group.  CSRS is a well-known engineering firm that, among other things, administers the City-Parish Green Light Program.

• Severn Trent Services — Based in Fort Washington, Pa., this company has offices in 90 cities around the world.  It began in the United Kingdom as a state-owned water authority.  When privatization began in the UK, it went private and began to expand worldwide.  It is best known for administering water treatment facilities.

• Task Force, LLC is a Baton Rouge-based company founded in 2005 that administers 9,000 properties under the Road Home Program.

• The Shaw Group — A Fortune 500 company based in Baton Rouge with 27,000 employees around the world.

• IBTS, Institute for Building Technology and Safety — A non-profit organization affiliated with the National Governors Association.  It works to improve building regulatory and administrative services for states and localities.

Several other firms have attended meetings with the city, requested information, or expressed interest in providing services other than administering the entire city government.  These include:

• Neel-Schaffer, Inc.

• Wharton-Smith, Inc. Construction Group

• Burk Kleinpeter, Inc.

• PEC

• Planning & Design Group

• Chem Spray South, Inc.

CH2MHILL was the only bidder when the city first privatized city services in the newly-incorporated City of Central three years ago.

Under the current agreement, CH2MHILL operates the Central Municipal Services office and supplies virtually all personnel for the city.  The company appoints the director of public works, head of the city permit office, and planning and zoning director without approval or disapproval of the City Council.  The company receives a check from the city every month but is not required to itemize its expenditures on behalf of the city.

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News

Copyright 2011 by Woody Jenkins