"$10.9 million O'Hare-Midway deal defaults to clout-heavy contractor"

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

$10.9 million O'Hare-Midway deal defaults to clout-heavy contractor
BY FRAN SPIELMAN
The Chicago (IL) Sun-Times


A clout-heavy contractor who made millions from Mayor Daley's affinity for
wrought-iron fences has been awarded a $10.9 million contract to repair and
replace thousands of doors at O'Hare and Midway airports.

The contract was competitively bid, but Builders Chicago ended up winning it
by default after three rival companies picked up specifications, then failed
to submit proposals. That's even after the Procurement Services Department
reached out and offered assistance.

Larry Hooker Jr., owner and president of Schaumburg-based American Overhead
Door, said he decided not to "waste my time" after concluding the political
ties between the families of Mayor Daley and Builders Chicago owner Richard
Crandall make such contracts "impossible" for anyone else to win.

Three times, American Overhead Door won the contract for maintaining
overhead doors at city facilities, only to have the contracts mysteriously
rebid, Hooker said.

"We lost it each time. The city doesn't want anybody else to have it except
Builders Chicago. I could have put in a bid for $5 million [on the airport
contract] and I would bet you my life it would be sent out to rebid," Hooker
said.

"There's something very wrong here. ... If somebody wants to look long and
hard, they're going to find a lot of trails leading back to different
people. We won't bid it ever again. Unless Daley is out of there or the
owner of Builders has a heart attack and dies, there's no way for us to get
the contract."

Another competitor, who asked to remain anonymous, charged that the city's
bid specifications were tailor-made for Crandall.

Chicago United Industries and Doorworks Services Inc. joined American
Overhead Door in picking up the specs but failing to bid.

"If they broke it out into more than one bid instead of being
all-encompassing, you'd have a lot more bidders," the company official said.

Crandall, who also owns fencing contractor G.F. Structures, could not be
reached for comment. He is an insurance client of the mayor's brother,
County Commissioner John Daley, and a longtime friend of former city
Purchasing Agent Alexander Grzyb. Political ties between the Crandall and
Daley families go back decades.

Aviation Department spokeswoman Monique Bond denied that the airport
contract was steered to Builders Chicago or that politics scared off rival
bidders. 

"The process was competitive. There was every opportunity to submit bids. If
they didn't follow through, it sounds like they were not in a financial
position to assume the risk. This is not an easy contract to manage. Not
many companies have the insurance or bonding required," Bond said.

Although the scope of work appears to have stifled competition, Bond said
security and cost concerns prevented City Hall from dividing the door
contract into more manageable bites.

"It's a monumental task keeping these doors operating twenty-four-seven. We
have 200,000 passengers and 50,000 employees going in and out of these doors
every day. We can't rely on four or five companies and risk that they might
not be able to do the job. We need a single point of accountability. We have
to be able to rely on one company we know can complete the job," she said.

Builders Chicago and G.F. Structures have been paid tens of millions of
dollars for fencing and other construction-related work in the 14 years
since Daley took office, much of it the result of Daley's love affair with
wrought iron fences.


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