Monday, April 2, 2007

SEWRPC Is Up To Its No-Bid Contracting Again

Gretchen Schuldt, transportation watchdog, has discovered that SEWRPC awarded a $50,000 no-bid consulting contract for a project that few know is even underway.

SEWRPC is the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, an often low-visibility agency managing a seven-county organization that operates completely with property tax funds and other public monies.

Making this contract even more unsatisfactory: it funds a central city Milwaukee study, but sets up yet another suburban office through which to run it: this time, the Pewaukee-based regional planning commission has found a spot in Wauwatosa to rent, Schuldt discloses.

And she's got the low-down on her Milwaukee Rising blog about the contract's sweetheart status for some charter members of the old-boys' network.

The Pewaukee headquarters, by the way, was also bought several years ago by SEWRPC on a no-bid basis: the $4 million purchase from Ruekert/Mielke, one of SEWRPC's frequent contractors, was carried out without competitive bidding or an RFP (proposal request), according to SEWRPC officials.

SEWRPC just can't seem to get its relationship with Milwaukee right.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greetings, Jim,
Please note, re today's blog, for future reference, the following is incorrect:

"Gretchen Schuldt ... editor of the Story Hill neighborhood Association's online newsletter, ..."

SHNA does not have an online newsletter. Gretchen is the only person posting anything to storyhill.net per her wishes. She also has posted a disclaimer:

(http://www.storyhill.net/SHNAOrg.htm)
"storyhill.net is not affiliated with the Story Hill Neighborhood Association. storyhill.net is neither owned nor edited by the Association."

Thank you.
Rosalind Rouse
SHNA Board Secretary

James Rowen said...

Corrected. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Roz is half right: storyhill.net is not owned or operated by the Story Hill Neighborhood Association.

Her statement, though, that "Gretchen is the only person posting anything to storyhill.net" is simply wrong and untrue. storyhill.net has, in fact, offered to provide a page to the Story Hill Neighborhood Association, free of charge, that it could keep updated with association news and events. storyhill.net also has offered to link to any official SHNA site the association chooses to establish.