Which Came First, The Corrupt Politician or The Special Interest?

            In my first two entries, I have been focusing on the inappropriate relationship of special interests between the City of Laredo management and elected officials. I very much wish to continue along this trajectory; however, the focus will not be First Recycle and the revised city recycling program. I will be focusing on CDM and the methane feasibility studies. What I am writing, I am writing from firsthand experience and the conversations I have had with members of city management. My testimony is not from speculation or second hand information gained from third person parties. This is not my opinion! It is expert testimony and as such would prove invaluable to any court interested in indicting individuals involved in the abuses mentioned to determine if infractions of laws were committed. (SIGH)…I know where the “bodies” are hid, but it seems no one is interested in finding them.

            Let us now proceed to exhume this body. CDM is an engineering firm with an office based in San Antonio, Texas. Their area of expertise, at least the San Antonio branch, and their association with the City of Laredo has been with waste water and water utilities. In 2011, CDM, along with other firms, responded to a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) in reply to city management’s interest in a possible waste to energy program using the methane gas produced at the landfill. The purpose of the study was to assess the potential of the landfill’s digester gas, methane, as a viable long term, sustainable resource. RFQ’s which meet the specifications prescribed by the city are scored by department directors, and the firm with the highest score is generally awarded the contract. The scoring system is in place to ensure all companies capable of meeting the specifications have a level playing field and an equal opportunity to do business with the city. This system, when properly administered, is also advantageous to the city by guaranteeing the most competitive price for a service is obtained.  Unfortunately, this is the point where the system is most likely to be corrupted and the integrity of the system undermined. I will demonstrate this shortly.

            CDM was awarded the contract, in 2011, to conduct a methane feasibility study which was completed in 2012. According to the scoring system, CDM was the highest scoring vendor; despite not being the least expensive vendor. A few months ago, there was some media buzz about the city’s interest in conducting a second methane feasibility study.  This proposal sparked a lot of debate about the need for such a methane study and the costs associated with it. What most people did not realize was this will be the second study conducted. So why is a second study needed?  It is not needed. The cost of the first study was $138k. The real problem with this study is the cost associated with it. I have talked to two independent firms since who stated they could have performed this study for $30k. So why did it cost $108k more than it need to? The answer is because of special interests supported by our city management and our elected officials. This is yet another example of taxpayer subsidization of private industry. This second study is going to cost over $330k to conduct and millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money if it is implemented. The awarding of a second contract  for a second feasibility study with CDM allows me to demonstrate what I meant about the scoring process being corrupted and  not fulfilling its potential and designed use in  providing a level playing field for vendors and guaranteeing the most competitive price for the city. Violating this scoring process is a violation of state law. City management awarded CDM a second needless contract for the methane feasibility study despite the fact that another firm scored higher and should have been awarded the contract if, indeed, a second study was actually needed.

            I was privy to the results of the first study. The results indicate that attempting to use methane to power a generator in order to produce electricity and feed it back to the electrical grid would produce a whopping $0.04 per kilowatt hour over a ten year period. Do these results sound like our city management and elected leaders are being fiscally responsible? Of course it does not. I wonder if they read a prospectus for a stock that stated the same dismal return on their capitol over the same time period, if they would willingly and gladly fork over their hard earned money to buy shares. I doubt it.  The problem is someone is profiting while the taxpayers take a shellacking. This example is one of the “smaller” examples of taxpayers’ money being misappropriated. I will be exposing all the abuses I have a personal of knowledge of, but my exposure of political corruption must continue in gradations for two reasons. First, I want to establish a pattern of corruption and abuse of power within the city management. Second, I want to ensure the culpable parties do not become comfortable and their criminal actions do not cease to be noteworthy after a week. Until my next entry, think about how all this abuse is just from one department. Count all the city departments and estimate how much taxpayer money is potentially being wasted annually.

If anyone would like to contact me, they may do so at: dmills1679@gmail.com