Losing bidder complained to city about cruiser contract

• Richmond police tighten rules on cars taken home

• $1 million Richmond police car deal broke rules

AUDITOR'S REPORT: Police cars bought without competitive bids

PDF: Take Home Policy

PDF: Take Home Car Policy Overview

A Ford dealership in Prince George County challenged Richmond's handling of a nearly $1 million contract to buy police cars in late 2007, a deal that's now under investigation by the city administration and commonwealth's attorney.

Robert A. Wilkinson, a commercial account manager with Crossroads Ford of Virginia, sent a protest letter to Richmond officials on Dec. 7, 2007, after then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's administration had awarded the contract for 40 Crown Victoria vehicles to Sheehy Ford of Richmond.

Wilkinson's complaints mirror issues cited by City Auditor Umesh V. Dalal last week when he concluded that the city had violated procurement rules in awarding the $993,520 contract.

Wilkinson's letter was sent to Director of Procurement Services Eric R. Mens and was copied to then-Chief Administrative Officer Sheila Hill-Christian.

It was unclear yesterday how Hill-Christian addressed the claims at the time. She did not respond to two messages for comment, and Mayor Dwight C. Jones' administration declined to discuss the matter, citing the ongoing investigations.

In his letter, Wilkinson complained that the city's rules for purchases over $50,000 "were clearly not followed," and he challenged Mens' decision to treat the contract as if only one vendor could supply the cars. He noted that the city had asked at least three dealerships to provide bids, "which seems to make it not a sole-source contract."

Wilkinson also complained that the bidders were given less than 24 hours to respond to the request, and he called on the city "to rebid the purchase and follow its long-established policies."

The faxes went out at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 7, 2007, and they required responses 17½ hours later, at 9 a.m. Nov. 8, 2007 -- well short of the city's requirement that bid invitations be posted publicly for at least 10 days.

City code requires all public contracts with private vendors to be awarded after competitive sealed bidding or negotiation, although exceptions can be made if only one source or vendor is practically available.

Mens authorized the sole-source purchase Nov. 27, 2007, according to Dalal, whose report said it was wrong because the vehicles were available from dealers locally and across the nation. Mens has resigned, effective Aug. 30.

In a point-by-point response letter, Mens defended the handling of the contract and noted that Sheehy's bids on two vehicle-option packages were several thousands of dollars less than Crossroads' bids.

However, Mens later canceled the final two years of the three-year deal with Sheehy Ford, located in Chesterfield County, and encouraged Crossroads to bid in the future.

"I have been made aware of alleged inappropriate contact that has occurred in the conduct of the previous procurement," Mens said in a letter that directed Wilkinson to interact in the future with contract specialist Tyrone Davis.

The city released the letters and other documents this week after a request by the Richmond Times-Dispatch under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Reached yesterday, Wilkinson declined to comment and referred questions to Crossroads General Manager Will Nichols, who could not be reached.

Crossroads Ford, Sheehy Ford and Universal Ford in western Henrico County responded to the city's request for quotes. Sheehy's bids were more than $3,700 lower than Crossroads' and more than $5,500 lower than Universal's, according to the responses.

In a letter to Wilkinson, Mens said price was the overriding factor in awarding the contract. He also said his office had worked with Ford Motor Corp. with the understanding that it would give discounts to dealers upon request to help them submit "the best possible pricing to the city."

Mens said that before the quotes were requested, the city had been talking to the dealerships for weeks about plans to buy the vehicles and asked for "unit price quotes."

He said that after the bids were received and reviewed, officials determined that additional options were needed that increased Sheehy's price by $1,742 per vehicle.

The contract ended up costing an average of $24,838 per vehicle, according to Dalal.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.