"Philadelphia airport high bid contract extended"

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Airport contract extended till Dec. 31
Officials must decide if a maintenance provider can keep the deal. New
bidding is also possible.
By Marcia Gelbart
The Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer


A company that used to employ the mayor's brother will earn an extra $3
million from an airport contract that was set to expire last Friday but that
the city has now decided to extend for three months.

Houston-based Philadelphia Airport Services will continue to fix elevators
and escalators, as well as perform other maintenance work, at the city-owned
airport through Dec. 31, Procurement Commissioner William Gamble said
yesterday.

The delay stems from the city's inability to reach a decision on whether
that company - which was the high bidder for a new contract to be awarded -
will get to keep the deal, worth more than $50 million for the next four
years.

That decision, initially expected to come in late August, will be announced
later this week, Gamble said. He also left open the possibility that
Philadelphia Airport Services and rival Elliott-Lewis Corp. would be asked
to submit new bids.

"There are some issues that have not been resolved yet," Gamble said,
declining to discuss details, because he said he did not want to compromise
the procurement process.

Gamble called the three-month extension "routine," adding: "This contract is
sort of high-profile, so it may appear that it is something that is
unusual... . It's just that it's getting attention from the media and [City]
Council that other contracts don't get."

That includes attention from Mayor Street's contracts czar, George Burrell,
who, Gamble confirmed, met with him a few weeks ago. "We just discussed this
contract, every aspect of it, the numbers, the minority participation... .
It was basically a briefing," he said.

In the summer, Philadelphia Airport Services submitted a bid of $17.2
million - $2.3 million higher than its competitor, Elliott-Lewis, of
Northeast Philadelphia. Elliott-Lewis had performed the work for 11
consecutive years, until the current company underbid it in 2001.

At that time, a firm that had partnered with Philadelphia Airport Services
hired T. Milton Street, Sr., the mayor's brother, as a lobbyist to help it
secure the work. Also, it was later learned that Philadelphia Airport
Services paid Milton Street $30,000 in monthly consulting fees, although
company officials have said Street no longer has a relationship with them.

"We stand by our original bid, which was responsive and responsible, and
made in good faith," said Larry Ceisler, spokesman for Philadelphia Airport
Services.

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