Whether it's fixing leaky roofs at Adult Probation or cell doors at the old county jail, it seems that contractor Hunt and Associates has the inside track on projects originating in Cameron County, all without the benefit of competitive bidding.
In all, this firm is scheduled to receive $1.22 million in contracts when the commissioners court meets Thursday at 8:30 a.m. on the second floor of the Dancy Building.
The justifications for awarding the repairs to the Carlos Tapia Adult Probation Building for $69,126 to Hunt and Associates is that they've done work for Cameron County before and – this is the bureaucrats' favorite excuse when they want to avoid bidding – the emergency for the county to "have this building repaired before additional, or disastrous damage occurs is imperative."This last tidbit claiming emergency powers to evade competitive bidding is directed at the commissioners court directive that "(whenever possible) the court would like bids utilized rather than interlocal agreements.
In this case, department head Arnold Flores sates that "the company is familiar with the Carlos Tapia Building and its repair needs" and therefore should be awarded the work.
Now, the backup material for this proposal "submitted by Hunt and Associates," according to the agenda, includes a detailed proposal and pricing breakdown based upon a thorough inspection of the building" by Hunt and Associates."
That should send up red flags.
How is it that they got access to the building, examined the proposed repair sites, proposed the solutions and came up with a quote for the work? Surely someone at the county (Flores or his boss Asst. County Administrator David Garcia?) allowed them access and a head start on other contractors (c,mon other contractors have also done work on county buildings besides Hunt) so their proposal could be hurried through the court.
On top of that, apparently there is no money on the budget for the repairs since Flores is proposing that lapsed salaries mounting up in the various county departments be used to pay Hunt. Why?
These and other questions will probably be asked by the commissioners court since Flores (or Garcia) will be required to appear before the commissioners to answer questions when interlocal agreements rather than competitive bidding is proposed for county projects.
In the case of the repairs on the cell doors at the old jail, the script is very much the same. Hunt and Associates have done "extensive research into the scope of the work and assessment of its costs" before they submitted the "Job Order Contract Program Delivery Order Request" to Garcia and Jail Commander Fermin Leal.Again, there appears to have been no other contractors allowed to inspec the jails and bid for the work and no other proposals are attached to the request. And the request makes no mention by Garcia of other contractors being asked to take a gander at the cell doors and propose installing touch screens and a control panel for the operation of the doors.
Keith Hunt, the principal contact with Hunt and Associates, states in the proposal for the work that Southern Folger, the original supplier of the cell door mechanisms had been contacted about the work and that the company would have to supply the materials to refurbish the cell doors.
Additionally, he states that Eddie Pinnell, the project manager who authored the originally scope of work back in 2012, now works for Southern Folger.
In other words, this is the classic inside job.
The price for this exclusive service to Cameron County? How about a cool $1,153,416?
Well, in this case there seems to be no emergencysince the prisoners aren't going anywhere.
Once again, what special relationship exists between Hunt and Associates, Cameron County and its Asst. County Administrator exists that gives it the inside track on $1,222,542 (both projects) without the benefit of competitive bidding or a Request for Proposals?
25 comments:
Another administration behaving as if they have free money to throw up in the air instead of actually working to ensure our tax dollars are invested wisely. It will get far worse if Joe Rivera becomes county judge.
Hunt and Associates were involved in a debacle at the Sports Park for construction of the bleachers, etc. Check it out.
Who is receiving the bribe moola now? No bids, how shocking, shocking !!!
Quit blogging on county time.....we know they don't follow policy.
Commander Leal works for Hunt as a paid consultant in jail matters!
Keith Hunt is a crook.
What the people of Cameron County Should WORRY about he most is the track record of Hunt and Associates. The sports park is but one of many fiascos that Hunt and Associates has left in its wake.
On another note Job Order Contracting is a legal procurement method allowed by government code which may be considered best value. The problem is that it is misunderstood by people that don't understand the parameters and ground rules.
Oh a final question one should ask.. Does a former Hunt employee who used to work for the sheriff's office now work for the sheriff's office again? HMMMM...
Hunt and Associates were involved in a debacle at the Sports Park for construction of the bleachers, etc. Check it out.
KIKO was involved too se tapan con la misma cobija. jajajajajaj.
Major Garcia worked for Hunt before going back to work for the county and now Hunt gets a big contract. Well played Mr. Hunt well played.
The county should do its homework and just call the city of Brownsville and find out what kind of experience they had with Mr Hunt.
Kiko Rendon = Hunt. Look deeper Montoya.
"Major Garcia worked for Hunt before going back to work for the county and now Hunt gets a big contract. Well played Mr. Hunt well played."
He worked at the county jail, then Hunt and right back to county as a supervisor. Even as a current supervisor, he still works part time for Hunt as a consultant....and we wonder why Hunt is getting all the business! How in the heck is this legal? How many more employees are getting their backs scratched by Hunt?
Like always, this expenditure will be rubber stamped and business will continue as usual. Sickening!!!!!
I have nothing to do with that worthless individual. Kiko
nombre Kiko and Herrera both got same short end of the stick as the city and county. Someone need to look into the fiasco he left at the jail a while back. The county's legal had to send demand letters and everything
Anonymous said
This is Keith F Hunt of Hunt and Associates Inc.
Why is that you are ANONYMOUS making these very derogatory statements, stand behind what you are saying let me and the public know who you are,
As I see it you are nothing more then a coward having to be Anonymous.
This is Keith F Hunt, of Hunt and Associates Inc.
To the author of this blog Please understand that Job Order Contracting is 100% legal procurement method allowed under the laws and statues of the state.
It is utilized by all government and higher education entities throughout the united states in the billions of dollars per year.
I would love to have the opportunity of explaining its purpose and process to you should you wish to have a true understanding of the program.
However.you can also easily research its validity under the statues and or on the web.
If you had done your true due diligent as a public publisher, you would not have posted this very misleading and very damaging blog.
Your title alone is 100% incorrect Job Order Contracting is a competitive bid procurement and again 100% legal,
All of the local government in the Valley use Job Order Contracting in the millions of dollars a year, and there are several Job Order Contractors in the valley providing Job Order Contracting Services,
Cameron County has utilized Job Order Contracting for many years now and not only through our company but through the other job Order Contractors in the millions of dollars worth of Delivery Order Requests over the past years very sucessfully.
Job Order Contracting is not new to the County Commissioners or the public. The County and her tax payers have benefited in many ways with utilizing this legal procurement method and I am sure that they will utilize it again. I would be pleased to show the benefits and costs savings they have enjoyed if you are interested in the truth.
Why is it that you have single out our company and not included any of the other Job Order Contractors who have and continue to provide the same services to the County, you have caused great damage to our company and our employees without knowing the facts and without any just cause, .
Is that what you stand for,, destroying peoples livelihood and business without just cause, what have we done to you to deserve this kind of treatment and absolute abuse of freedom of the press,I do not even know you,
You probably will not post this response
I sincerely look forward to meeting you sometime soon, so that I can better explain what is that we do and how it is legal and why it is a preferred contracting method for many.
May God Bless You and Our Endeavors
Keith F Hunt
Hunt and Associates Inc.
(956) $59 1696 call me please.
Mr. Hunt it is not about the JOC process but your delivery. You have left a string of fiascos scattered all over South Texas.
Mr. Kunt,
Just because "job order contracting" is a legal procurement vehicle, should it be used all of the time. In this instance and with recent public corruption in Cameron County; JOC just doesn't pass the smell test.
I understand that you are upset to the tune of 1.2 million dollars. However, this mini - monopoly style of procurement that is "indefinite", coupled with the "employee" matter has bells ringing loudly. If you feel you are the most qualified and will provide the best pricing, don't be afraid to go through normal bidding process. Show all of Cameron County you were right.
-Benito Camelas
A coward? Or smart enough to bring out the truth?
Mr. Keith F. Hunt,
You have totally misinterpreted and distorted the title of the blog commentary "AT COUNTY: HUNT AND ASS. TO GET $1.22 MILLION IN CONTRACTS WITHOUT COMPETITIVE BIDDING THURSDAY"
Nowhere in Juan Montoya's (644 word) blog commentary does he state or allege that Job Order Contracting is illegal. Mr. Montoya's argument or contention was the apparent "LACK of competitive bidding"
Job Order Contracting is awarded through a "competitive sealed proposal solicitation" process. It appears that the process presented to the County Commissioners was flawed and therefore tabled/rejected.
I also don't understand how you can claim the blog commentary was an "absolute abuse of freedom of the press"; I just don't see it.
Mr. Montoya,
I am curious to know if before publishing this article, you made any attempt to contact Keith Hunt and find out the FACTS? This small JOC business is only trying to do the best job it can while saving YOU and other taxpayers money. All this "hoopla" about scheming and bribes is just typical Brownsville chisme BS. Don't you people have anything better to talk about?
Hunt and Associates is a small, JOC business. They have done work on both both of these buildings extensively. So, yes, they are "familiar with the building and it's needs". As far getting a "head start", HELLO, they are working in the building. How could they NOT see what needs fixing? They are contractors.
If they were told that it was an "emergency" and put in an offer, how do they have any control over whether any other bids are accepted?
Hunt and Associates wants to get in and fix the problem quickly and knowing the building just makes sense!
Do you know the process involved in starting up a job like that? How many people need to be screened just to be able to work on the premises? Bringing in another company would cost the taxpayers a whole new set of 100+ background checks and be very time consuming.
You don't know what the emergency is!!!!
"Whenever possible, bids should be utilized"
AND you are complaining that while the county wants "fancy, touch-screen jail cells" (add another million to the price tag), while Mr. Hunt is simply trying to AGAIN save tax dollars by having the old doors refurbished? Who cares if someone used to work there, does work there or not??
This is not an "inside job" as much as it is "they are currently inside the job".
A proposal was submitted. What happens after that is out of Hunt's hands.
As for some of your comments….
The Sports Park "debacle" was not something you should be making mention of unless you know what ACTUALLY happened.
As for these claims of Government Officials working for Hunt and Associates??? Oh that makes me laugh! Unless being the contact person for an assigned job makes you an "employee on the payroll"… Do all contractors put their contact person on the payroll??? No? Neither does Mr. Hunt. They may have a working relationship. That is all.
Now let's talk about KIKO. I can only assume you mean Francisco Rendon? I can assure you the Mr. Hunt has not had ANY contact with that…. person, since they attempted a partnership and he bailed on the company, leaving them in a financial mess. His mess.
Abuse of Freedom of the Press? How about Abuse of the Freedom of "Who cares?" and why would anyone want to talk about this who isn't involved or affected?
Mr. Hunt is doing his best with his small JOC company, minding his own business. Much of what has happened has been at the hands of others, like yourselves, trying to stomp on a "Mom & Pop" company just trying to do their job…
I GUARANTEE you, this is the quickest and most cost effective way to get this job done for the county and the taxpayers.
Hunt and Associates Inc. has never done any contracting with the City of Brownsville,
Please start naming the the string, we provide the best in value and quality workmanship on all of our projects and is the only reason we get such repeat business, we do so, so well, that the only way it appears those who do not appreciate us getting the repeat business are those who have to resort to this kind of action as set fourth in this blog. They cannot get their own work and need to resorts to this in order to damage the good reputation and relationships that has been built over the 43 years of being in business.
Very sad that this is the way for others to compete.
Very said that you must be a coward hiding behind Anonymous and cannot stand for the truth, There is such a thing as defamation and torturous business interference, lets you and I settle this in court and there let the real truth come out.
Job Order Contracting (JOC) is one of the least understood contracting methods, even for many who have worked in the construction and procurement process. JOC is a proven process for construction improvements and remodeling that develops a long term partnering relationship between facility administrators and construction managers, thus effectively extending staff capabilities for the owner. Specifically, JOC is an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. It is not specific to just one or two projects, but instead is general enough to cover many annually planned numbers of estimated projects referred to as Delivery Orders Requests and can continue to do so over several years or as long as the client wishes to continue with their JOC Program.
JOC contracts are competitively bid for and when used satisfy all legal requirements governing procurement and contracting specified in Intergovernmental Code 791 and Texas Education Code 44.041, which sets forth the criteria for contractor. Code 44.041 also specifies that the selection process must include price of the contractor’s bid coefficient against a specified public construction price book
Get your facts right and know what your talking about, Job Order Contracting when used satisfies all statutory state laws on competitive bidding, It not new to the commissioners or the county and has been utilized in the millions of dollars of completed project of which we only receive a small portion there of. The WITHOUT AND or the LACK OF competitive bidding is absolutely incorrect because JOC is a COMPETITIVE BID FOR CONTRACT. Your Anonymous commentary and that of Mr. Montoya if absolute defamation and tortuous business interference that is 100% unlawful. I sincerely hope that people of good morality will see it for what it is. Just hateful actions on yours and Montoya's part. And obliviously been done to cause harm and influence the courts decision which is also against the law, and those at the County whom provided confidential proposal information before an award have also committed an unlawful act. Said times for the taxpayers of the County when our hired and elected officials have to resort to such unlawful and damaging action to get their agenda accomplished,
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