News

April 26, 2008

More county buys questioned

Officials identifying other purchases that likely will require bidding, quotes or proposals.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Luzerne County officials are finding other examples of purchases that likely should have been bid out as they go department by department.

The department visits were prompted by the county’s recent discovery and admission that prison food and grocery purchases were piecemealed, or illegally grouped into smaller categories to circumvent bidding requirements.

County Chief Clerk/Manager Doug Pape said senior staffers have met with the court administration, probation services, information technology and human services departments and identified purchases in each one that will likely require future bidding, quotes or public requests for proposals.

“The bottom line is we’re going to have some other contracts that were not bid or publicly advertised, but it appears to be more of a case of not knowing rather than skirting the county’s purchasing policy,” Pape said.

County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said the discovery of other purchasing violations shows the prison wasn’t the only department misinterpreting purchasing requirements.

“It’s what I’ve anticipated -- much of the same. From what I’m understanding, others have interpreted the policy in a similar way as (former county chief clerk/manager) Sam Guesto,” Skrepenak said.

But county minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said there’s no comparison because Guesto and others stopped bidding food and groceries that had been bid out in the past.

“They went against past practice and did the complete opposite of the purchasing policy,” Urban said.

A county internal report said Guesto, the former county chief clerk/manager, told county prison officials not to bid out items that were previously bid, telling the kitchen manager during a March 2006 meeting, "...do it or it’s your ass." Guesto also directed that no-bid purchases be made from Commonwealth Foods Inc., the report said.

Guesto was best man in the wedding of Steve Harnischfeger, the owner of Commonwealth Foods, which sold $1.1 million in food and grocery products to the county prison without a bid since 2004.

Guesto, who has declined comment, said in the internal report that he never threatened the kitchen manager and never told anyone to keep purchases under a certain amount to avoid bidding.

An unidentified outside agency is investigating the prison piecemealing.

Skrepenak said the additional discoveries also show that he and his administration should have done a better job educating departments about the purchasing policy.

Skrepenak and former commissioner Todd Vonderheid unveiled the policy in 2004 and often held it up as evidence that the county was open for business to all, not just the politically connected.

The policy requires formal quotes for most purchases over $3,000 and bids for those that exceed $7,500, which is tougher than the state’s threshold of $4,000 for quotes and $10,000 for bids.

Vonderheid, who left office last June to take another job, said Friday that he agreed with Skrepenak’s assessment.

“We certainly could have done more to train staff on the policy,” he said.

He declined to comment on the prison piecemealing or other recent discoveries of no-bid purchasing that occurred while he was in office.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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