Albany car dealer decries lack of local bid option

ALBANY — Harry Prisant proffers a copy of the tabulation sheet that shows final bids on a pair of 15-passenger vans the Dougherty County Commission will award a contact on at its meeting next week.

“Three dollars and 80 cents,” Prisant says. “My bid is $3.80 more than a dealership in Smyrna, and instead of keeping that money local, the county is recommending that the bid go to the other dealership.

“Over three dollars and 80 cents.”

Losing out on close bids is not new to Prisant. The local Sunbelt Ford Town fleet manager mentions such a bid from November of last year, which he lost by $225, and a 16-vehicle bid from a few years back that he lost out on by $5.65.

District 5 Commissioner Harry James does Prisant one better during discussion of the matter at the commission’s work meeting Monday.

“I understand what Mr. Prisant is talking about when he mentions common sense,” James said. “In the past, I believe Sunbelt lost out on a bid by 15 cents. We keep talking about moving the economic needle forward, and we can make that happen from within. I’ve been pushing a local option for some time. We can’t afford to keep refusing to help our local businesses.”

Prisant told commissioners, “We may not have a local preference in place, but we should have a common-sense preference.” After the meeting, he punctuated his concern, noting, “We keep telling everyone ‘Think Local’ around here. That’s not what’s happening, though. And it’s not just our dealership, it’s other businesses as well.”

County Attorney Spencer Lee said after the meeting he wouldn’t discuss specific concerns with local-preference bidding “unless questions are asked by my commission,” but he indicated during the commission meeting that the board might be on shaky ground if it votes to reject a low bid.

“The bid specs that went out on this item did not go out with a (local) preference,” Lee said. “State law says that a government must take the ‘lowest responsive’ bid when it makes a decision like this. The way I interpret the law, the only way a vendor can be found to be not responsive is if someone that uses their product has specific objectionable issues with the bidder.”

District 6 Commissioner Anthony Jones, echoing Prisant’s call for common sense, said he doesn’t want to see frustrated local business owners moving to greener pastures over such bids.

“Sunbelt is a very important business here, and I would hate to see them move away in frustration,” Jones said. “I think common sense has to kick in at some point. It comes down to that.”

Wade Ford of Smyrna bid $28,295 per unit on 15-passenger Ford Transit vans the county plans to purchase for its County Extension Service and Solid Waste department, while Sunbelt bid $28,298.80. Speedway Ford of Griffin bid $25,510 per unit but was determined by the city/county Central Services department not to have been a qualified bidder.

The city of Albany allows local vendors to match out-of-town bids if the local bid is within 5 percent of the lowest bidder. The Dougherty County School system has a 2 percent local match option.

“I have a situation with the city right now where Wade Ford bid $27,997, and I bid $28,199.78 (a difference of $202.78, which falls within 1 percent of the lower bid),” Prisant said. “I’ve agreed to match the lower offer, so I am getting that bid. That keeps the money here in our local community.”

The County Commission will vote on the bid for the vans at its business meeting April 18.