Region dumps bid process for insurer
Regional Chair Alan Caslin cast a tie-breaking vote Tuesday that allowed regional council to cast off its own bidding process for an insurance provider and give the contract to a company that lost the bid.
Caslin called an emergency council meeting to vote on hiring an insurance firm for the municipality after council failed to resolve the issue during its meeting last Thursday night.
In a sometimes heated debate, some councillors, led by Niagara Falls Coun. Bob Gale, argued the company that won the bidding process — Frank Cowan Co. Ltd. — was too expensive. He urged council vote to hire Jardine Lloyd Thompson, which came in second with a bid $240,000 cheaper.
Other councillors, including Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn, said the bidding process, which includes a review by industry experts and fairness commissioner, is designed to select the company that meets the Region’s needs. To throw out the process was “arbitrary” and a demonstration of poor leadership.
It was, he said, “a bro mentality” that presumes council can do whatever it wants.
The vote to hire JLT was tied at 11-11. Caslin broke the tie by voting in favour of hiring the company. He did not provide reasons for his vote.
Last Thursday, regional council voted against a staff recommendation to renew the Region’s contract with FCC. Three bids were judged using a scoring system put in place after a similar insurance debate in 2016.
The system had evaluators score each bid on several criteria, including price and coverage provided. FCC had the top score with 86.53 points, while JLT placed second with 69.23 points.
On Tuesday, councillors were told price was not the only factor that decided the score. In particular, regional staff said the kind of coverage offered by FCC was superior to JLT. Corporate services commissioner Jason Burgess said JLT was asked if it could provide the kind of coverage FCC was offering, but the company declined to modify its bid.
Caslin said he called the emergency meeting Tuesday because the Region’s insurance would expire by the end of the day if the issue was not resolved.
However, Augustyn noted that at last week’s council meeting, regional staff were directed to extend the current coverage provided by FCC if council did not reach a verdict on the issue. Regional CAO Carmen D’Angelo said if council did not select a new insurer, he would take measures to ensure the coverage continued.
Gale, Port Colborne Coun. David Barrick and Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati argued that price should have been weighed more heavily in the scoring process.
“If this was your money, I guarantee you that you would vote to save it,” Diodati said Tuesday.
Gale, who believes the staff report recommending FCC is “flawed,” repeatedly said the money saved could be given to a local food bank such as Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold or Project SHARE in Niagara Falls.
“I have no problem bringing that forward to budget committee, and ask that money to be divided up among local charities. I suspect the Region will want to use that money for their other problems,” said Gale. “I just don’t think that money should go to our organization if we are going to waste it, let’s put it that way.”
Councillors arguing against hiring JLT said regional council cannot just abandon its bidding processes whenever it feels like it.
Welland Coun. George Marshall said there is an aversion in the local business community to bidding on regional contracts because the tendering process is meaningless.
“They don’t see the point and say, ‘You guys are going to do what you want to do anyway,’” said Marshall.
Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton said the Region shouldn’ t abandon its contract bidding processes on the fly.
“It isn’t about the price, it’s about the process, and the process was followed correctly,” she said.
If there is a problem with the bidding process, then the CAO should present council with a report that explains why and what could be done to improve it, she said.
Welland Coun. Paul Grenier also challenged the idea that rejecting the bidding process would save significant tax dollars.
He said the $240,000 difference between FCC and JLT amounts to only 0.075 per cent of the Region’s budget.
He also said the difference in coverage could expose the Region to potential risks.
How the Region awards contracts has come under intense scrutiny this year, largely because of an extensive $500,000 audit conducted by Deloitte Canada on the construction of the Burgoyne Bridge. The audit found the Region has insufficient policies to guide procurement and hiring practices and to prevent conflict of interest issues.
Attempts to defer the Tuesday motion or have the issue sent back to the Region’s corporate services committee were unsuccessful.
Voting for the motion to hire JLT were Caslin, Barrick, Diodati, Gale, Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs, Pelham Coun. Brian Baty, Port Colborne Mayor John Maloney, Niagara Falls Coun. Bart Maves, St. Catharines Coun. Andy Petrowski, Grimsby Coun. Tony Quirk, St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik, and Niagara Falls Coun. Selina Volapatti.
Voting against the motion were Augustyn, Easton, Grenier, Marshall, Lincoln Coun. Bill Hodgson, St. Catharines Coun. Kelly Edgar, St. Catharines Coun. Debbie McGregor, West Lincoln Mayor Doug Joyner, Thorold Coun. Henry D’Angela, St. Catharines Coun. Tim Rigby and St. Catharines Coun. Bruce Timms.