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Phoenix police towing bidding near end By Dustin Gardiner The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:05 PM A yearlong, contentious bidding contest for Phoenix’s multimillion-dollar police towing contracts has nearly come to an end, with three companies on track to win coveted agreements. The process has been overshadowed from the start by fighting among jockeying companies and accusations of improper conduct. Behind-the-scenes competition has been particularly bruising, with the top companies enlisting a Who’s Who slate of city lobbyists. All City Towing, a Tempe-based company, was the biggest winner when the city last week unveiled an evaluation committee’s selections. The committee picked the company to field towing calls in two of four geographic zones, edging out rival United Road Services Southwest, a Mokena, Ill., company. United, which also does business as Shamrock Towing, has held a monopoly on the Phoenix towing contracts for about six years, but it did not win any areas in the latest bid process. Opponents had targeted the company throughout the bid process. The committee selected two other Valley-based companies, DV Towing and Western Towing, to handle one zone each. The move toward contracting with several companies is likely to appease City Council members who had questioned the effectiveness of allowing a single company to have all the city’s contracts. United’s original contract expired in November 2011 but has been extended twice while Phoenix goes through the bid process for new contracts. If council members approve the selections Tuesday, the three winning companies will respond to Police Department tow calls for vehicles damaged in accidents or involved in illegal parking or DUI cases. An estimated 28,000 vehicles are towed in the city each year. Representatives for United say the bidding process was skewed by improper lobbying efforts by All City. They say a close relationship between the company and a non-profit that employs a councilman suggest lobbying likely occurred. The city has rules prohibiting bidders from meeting with council members, top city staff and the mayor during the process unless the meeting is public and announced to all other bidders. Much of United’s criticism focuses on ties between All City’s representatives and the local office of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, which is led by Councilman Michael Nowakowski. Three members of the board for the foundation’s annual spring fundraising dinner are tied to the towing company, including event board Chairman Billy Shields, an influential city lobbyist. All City also has made $5,000 donations to the Chavez Foundation’s dinner for a few years, including its coming 2013 event, according to the foundation’s website. Nowakowski receives a salary from the non-profit. Despite their concerns, United did not file a formal protest to the bid results. John Wicke, general manager for United and Shamrock’s operations in the state, said that although he does not question the intentions of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, All City’s involvement raises ethical questions. He said his employer is not protesting the bid because their lawyers believe it would be too difficult to fight. “The only thing I could win in a protest is another chance to play the same game over again,” Wicke said Thursday. “More than anything, I’m questioning the motivation and timing of (All City’s donation).” Nowakowski called the accusation “bogus,” saying that council members had no involvement or influence in the committee’s review of bidders. He said United has given to non-profits throughout the Valley and even gave to his election campaign several years ago. “You know, it’s kind of silly,” Nowakowski said. “There’s council members ... that support all kinds of causes. That’s what we want businesses to do.” According to the city’s ethics policy, any elected official or employee who has, or whose relative has, a substantial interest in a contract should make that interest known and refrain from voting on the issue or getting involved in the process. The policy is equivalent to the state’s conflict-of-interest law. Shields, who represented All City until July, said he did not lobby council members during the blackout period of the bid process, though he had lobbied the council on behalf of the company before that. He said many companies with business before the city have donated to charities supported by council members. “I think that’s a ridiculous allegation,” Shields said. “If they have a problem with this process, or any process, they should protest it.” United also has faced its share of criticism. In May, a competing company with ties to DV Towing asked the city to investigate United over complaints that it had an unfair advantage and had amassed more than 2,000 contract violations since 2006, mostly for arriving late. David Leibowitz, a lobbyist and spokesman for the company, disputed those allegations, saying the company performed exceptionally, servicing more than 235,000 calls during the length of its contract with a less than 1 percent complaint rate. Phoenix Finance Director Jeff Dewitt has defended the integrity of the procurement. He said the city restarted the bid process this summer and threw the original bids out because the criteria didn’t put enough emphasis on price. Dewitt said it is “self-evident” from the evaluation committee’s results that price was a significant factor. In every zone except one, United’s estimated cost to the public was higher. Under the new contracts, Phoenix will receive a percentage of unclaimed-vehicle sales that the towing companies make. That could bring in a substantial amount of money for the city, which receives no sales revenue under the current contract. The revenue share replaces an administrative fee the city had charged. |