Mar 3, 2010

Good decision / bad timing on parking


Well, it appears that the Paid Parking issue is dead in the water after last night's City Council session. If you read the earlier post here, you know that such a move is welcomed from this corner.

But why is this call being made at this juncture; namely AFTER the submission by four interested parties to the city's Request for Proposal? Why were these firms required to devote countless hours to the process of researching the needs and offering recommendations and bids only to have the city say "ah, never mind, we weren't really serious" after?

Plain and simple: this was not fair to those four parties. It's like promising a dog a milk bone if he shakes hands, and then tossing it in the trash after he complies.

The homework -- as in asking "OK, folks; are we in agreement and serious about going with paid parking as an option" -- should have been done before publishing the RFP's; not after.

This is but one more reason that the private sector is so frustrated with the way in which the public sector does business.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since when has the city council worried about the companies that submit proposals?
How about the countless proposals for a new public safety building? Now that was a complete waste of our $$$ because the architects were paid to do work, and the building was never built.
But in many other cases, in the past, people submit proposals in good faith, only to have the council say "sorry, we don't need ya"

Anonymous said...

3:28 makes a very good point. It's a doubleheader. Piss off people and blow time & money doing it!

wr said...

You, sir, are an excellent source for fine observations on this city's present and future well being. Will you please consider the possibility of running for local office?