Many people are aware of how the City of Worcester can not just pick and choose the contractors that they want to use. We have Purchasing Department that puts out RFP's (Request for Proposals), solicits bids and picks the winning bid while following the state procurement laws. Check out the site on-line. This ensures fairness and that the City of Worcester tax dollars are spent wisely.
What alot of people do not know is that the CDC's are not subject to this. Originally I got to believe that the thought was that their projects would be small in nature so why make it cumbersome for them, which makes sense. I highly doubt that anyone would envision the big business these projects have become. It is not atypical to see projects in the 5 to 20 million dollar range.
My point here is that the City of Worcester should look into how they could require anyone receiving HOME funds over a certain threshold for a project ($100,000) must utilize our Purchasing department to solicit bids to ensure that our HOME funds are spent efficiently. And who knows amybe even a Worcester based contractor will be able to win a bid.
Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
3 comments:
Bill, I tend to agree with you that somehting has to be done b/c I just do not understand how these CDC's are spending 250,000 to 300,000 per unit to develop 1,100 sq ft garden apts or condos if they are put up for sale or in the alternate 1300 sq ft townhouses.
It is even more preposterous when one considers that most often the CDC's get their land for short money via using their poltical juice and then they a pass on all the permit fees which can easliy be $7,000 to $8,000 of a 3 BR townhouse unit.
I think you have to also consider that the city bidding dept only handles the legal technicalities of bid postings, openings, & awardings. The problem i see is that once the bids are opened they are handed over to the CDC's and the CDC's chose a winner...often known as the "favored Player"...so there is still a fair amount of leeway for those in favor
The topper is the same city council that votes the CDC's all these giveawys is the same city council that wants non profits to make PILOT payments. Now I was born at night, but not last night. Logic please? How does someone like Pilot Payment Palmieri reconcile working both sides of the fence, i.e. on the one hand, giveaways to Non profits and then the incessant whining about then neeed for PILOT payments.
The there is the Hand It Over Theatre...the proverbial poster child for running away with millions of tax payers dollars for their $30M Parthenon to the artsie fartsie crowd...only to have the God Dam cahonnes to turn around and make THe Hand Over into a non profit, non tax paying entity.
I want to put out a SHAM-BER Alert on these electronic signs on the interstates that says the tax payers of Worc are missing Millions of dollars and to be on the lookout for anything that says Hanover on it.
I mean think about all the ink that a predatory towing company gets for screwing folks out of maybe a few 10's of thousands of dollars, meanwhile one block away over at Main & Southbrige St's we have the Hand It Over Theatre that every day of teh years receives a $2,000 freebie from the taxpayers of Worcester by virtue of their tax exempt status plus the million in subsidies that rec'd for construction. THE ink stained wretches over on Franklin St T&G need to step up to the plate and run a 3 day series on all the giveaways to The Hand It Over Theatre.
Word verification: YAKING how coincidental when I am continually repeating myself here.
Also what is the status of Oak Hill, East Side, and Canal District CDC's.
I think the Canal District has been been aesthetized, at least temporarily?
Oak Hill with is Worc Academy area??
East Side I think is alive but quite small in scope?
re" PILOT
went to a very nice wedding in a church in downtown worcester today. Made me think of the problem that David Rushford has--as "justice of teh peace of last-resort" he must perform all those weddings at city hall and pocket all that dough from brides and grooms.
As a payment-in-lieu of taxes the ministers and priests in town could perform these ceremonies for lo or no-cost and the brides and grooms would get a chance to have a ceremony in a very inspirational venue. The minister could provide a service that takes a worry off teh furrowed brow of the city clerk and he could figure out a way to account for all the revenue that pours into his office on a daily basis
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