Wis Travel Bid: That's a lot of Snapple
In another titanic battle of "headline meets text," we get an interesting look into the government travel provider game.
The headline caught my eye, though the article's a bit stale: "Doyle got $10,000 from leader of agency with state contract," Sept. 2. Egads! Our fair Dem Governor has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar!
But wait. The article tells another story, about the bidding process and the timeline of the winning bidder's contributions to Doyle's campaign. The Gov did get a wad of cash, and it was cleverly eaked out until the contract was in the bag, but some nitty facts want to get in the way:
Well, either we have five UW officials and two bureaucrats, along with the prime competitor, complicit in Adelman's bid to buy the contract to the tune of a ten grand split with Doyle, or we have some major mangling of facts. I'm pretty sure this bunch could have held out for more dinero.
What's at stake for the winner - and loser? "Larrivee estimated the state will purchase about 10,000 tickets a year through Adelman. With Adelman charging the state $24 per ticket, that equals out to about $240,000 annually."
So the real story here is whether the travel habits of government, bureaucracy and educators in the Cheese State should be trimmed back or some alternate deal made. We're talking a quarter of a mil here, in fees alone. That's a lot of Snapple.
cross-posted @ GMC.
The headline caught my eye, though the article's a bit stale: "Doyle got $10,000 from leader of agency with state contract," Sept. 2. Egads! Our fair Dem Governor has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar!
But wait. The article tells another story, about the bidding process and the timeline of the winning bidder's contributions to Doyle's campaign. The Gov did get a wad of cash, and it was cleverly eaked out until the contract was in the bag, but some nitty facts want to get in the way:
Larrivee said a selection committee made up of five members from the University of Wisconsin System and one member each from the Administration and Transportation departments heard oral presentations from the finalists. It came down to Adelman and Omega.
Adelman won after what Larrivee called an "apples-to-apples comparison" on costs and fees. Diane Bozicevich, vice president of Midwestern operations for Omega World Travel, said Adelman underbid them by $4 and won the contract. Omega told the state it would charge $28 per transaction; Adelman could do it for $24."
I would say it was clean," Bozicevich said.
Well, either we have five UW officials and two bureaucrats, along with the prime competitor, complicit in Adelman's bid to buy the contract to the tune of a ten grand split with Doyle, or we have some major mangling of facts. I'm pretty sure this bunch could have held out for more dinero.
What's at stake for the winner - and loser? "Larrivee estimated the state will purchase about 10,000 tickets a year through Adelman. With Adelman charging the state $24 per ticket, that equals out to about $240,000 annually."
So the real story here is whether the travel habits of government, bureaucracy and educators in the Cheese State should be trimmed back or some alternate deal made. We're talking a quarter of a mil here, in fees alone. That's a lot of Snapple.
cross-posted @ GMC.
posted by Jane Bellwether @ 11:16 AM
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