by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
It was developed to “create and maintain jobs in Jacksonville,” but an advisory group formed to suggest a fair way to give preference to local companies in the awarding of City contracts for private services couldn’t agree how to implement such a program.
Proposed Ordinance 2008-1055 was the first item for discussion at the Tuesday meeting of the Seaport/Airport Special Committee. Chair Daniel Davis, co-sponsor of the ordinance along with Council member Art Graham, addressed the status of the ordinance.
“I will be contacting (City Council President Ronnie Fussell) and telling him I will be moving for withdrawal on 1055,” said Davis. “The advisory group that had been working on 1055 was not able to come to an agreement on some suggestions that were made. I think that it’s time. We tried, and it’s time to move on.”
The purpose of the ordinance was to amend the City’s procurement code for the Professional Services Evaluation Committee (PSEC) to include, “a more detailed methodology for evaluating ‘proximity to the project involved,’” which involves awarding points on a graduated scale for businesses that have a headquarters in Jacksonville as opposed to a branch office in Jacksonville, a branch office elsewhere in Florida or no offices in Florida.
The word “headquartered” was a stumbling block in the advisory group’s discussions.
“The system was not fair to the businesses that may not be headquartered here, but have significant operations in the area,” said John Finotti of Access Communications, who represented about 15 businesses that had interest in the ordinance.
An advisory group was created after business people voiced concern over the ordinance so that better language or practices could be developed to meet the needs of the businesses affected by the proposed legislation.
Six people affected by private service contracts were chosen to be a part of this group. Sam Mousa of J.B. Coxwell Planning and Engineering and Mike Holcomb of PBS&J will co-chair the committee. Doug Miller of England-Thims & Miller, Tom Atkins of HDR, Greg Edmonds of Ellis & Associates and David Kemp of Ayers and Associates sat on the committee. Davis asked Alan Mosley, the City’s chief administrative officer, to represent the mayor’s office on the committee.
“There could’ve been better outcomes for everybody, including local and non-local firms alike,” said Davis after the meeting. “We were hoping to get to a point where it was a win-win for everyone, but we just couldn’t get there.”
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