Low bidder loses bus contracts

In case you missed the opening episodes of this highly exasperating melodrama, after an initial vote in support of First Transit was thrown out in a dispute about whether a quorum was present, the board of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada deadlocked 4-4, a year ago, over who should get the contract to operate the valley's bus system.

A new bidder, First Transit offered to do the job for $50 million less than the current operator, Veolia Transportation.

Four commissioners backed the challenger, while four backed Veolia.

Why would they do that? Because they feared First Transit was some kind of wing-and-prayer startup that wouldn't be able to handle the job? Not at all. The process required bidders to present evidence they had the capacity and expertise to do the job. First Transit has an international reputation and was thoroughly vetted. If the company ended up losing money on the contract, that would be their problem.

The four RTC commissioners who back Veolia are Clark County Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Larry Brown and Las Vegas City Council members Steve Ross and Lois Tarkanian. They complained about how the bids were scored, generally insisted Veolia is completely superior to First Transit and eventually (under pressure from a lawsuit) came up with a compromise right out of the Bible's story of Solomon.

They split the bus contract in half, offering to let the two competitors bid separately on each.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brown last year disclosed that Patrick Smith, a longtime lobbyist for Veolia, was a paid consultant on Brown's failed 2011 mayoral campaign. And Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, a union champion, last year accepted a job as a Veolia "consultant." His job: to use his juice to get one of the four RTC commissioners who supported First Transit to flip to Veolia's side.

(Mr. Collins argues he never got a chance to do anything under that deal. The newspaper cited Mr. Collins' unusual lobbying activities as one of its reasons for endorsing his opponent in last week's election. The voters decided otherwise, retaining Mr. Collins.)

Rejecting out of hand a qualified bidder who could save taxpayers $50 million amid a devastating economic downturn is bad public policy. Why take bids in the first place if you're not serious about encouraging competition?

At any rate, the new bidding process is under way, and Thursday it was announced that this time - are you ready? - First Transit, which at one point appeared to have won the contract to serve the entire valley with its low bid, didn't even make the first cut.

A revised two-step bidding process determined First Transit won't be considered for either of two seven-year contracts that will divide operations beginning July 1.

Tempe, Ariz.-based First Transit, which operates the RTC's paratransit system, also failed to meet the technical standards to advance to the second tier, where pricing will constitute 70 percent of the final scoring.

Instead, the RTC on Thursday unanimously advanced three companies - Keolis Transit America, MV Transportation, and, what a surprise, Veolia Transportation -- to the second round for its Lot A, or northern valley, contract, and two companies - Keolis and Veolia - to the second round for its Lot B, or southern valley, contract.

The new bidding process gives more weight to technical operations and "advancement potential" than to such minor matters as, you know, saving taxpayers $50 million.

First Transit sued the RTC over the earlier turnaround, but later withdrew the litigation on the assurance it would be given a fair chance at the split contract.

Among the 11 categories evaluated this time were "management team and key personnel," weighted at 28 percent; and "experience and references," 22 percent.

At least the RTC didn't label the categories "who you know."

The real takeaway here? If you're an outside company without lots of pre-existing union and political connections in Clark County, and you think you could save local taxpayers tens of millions of dollars by offering to provide a service now handled by a juiced-in local monopoly, forget about it. Don't even bother.