Archive: Opinions

January 11th 2013 the Lansing Star posted an article on your web site regarding the rejection of bids for the purchase of another new fire truck.

As an owner of another fire truck sales dealership that sells a competitive product, which by the way we were advised not to bother bidding if we could not supply a Pierce truck, would like to say that Mr. Saulsbury was right with his objection to the commissioners accepting a late bid. However there is a section in the General Municipal Law that allows them to waive technical noncompliance such as a bid that was a minute or two late.

The overwhelming question that Tax payers in Lansing and any other communities that do not open their bid specifications to competitive bidding is “why are the decision makers not taking advantage of at least following the most basic rules of the General Municipal Law sections that pertain to the bidding process and to allow for potential lower cost and /or better built apparatus possibilities.

The fact that Lansing Fire District is known only to buy Pierce Fire Apparatus is definitely why more manufacturers declined to submit a BID. In our situation, we were specifically advised not to bid unless we could bid a Pierce Fire Truck.

Competitive bidding opens up the possibility for the purchaser to get bids for multiple manufacturers that may offer HUGE cost savings to the taxpayers and in this economy, why wouldn’t they want to?

Mark Aswad

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