BETHESDA'S HMSHost
CHALLENGES MARYLAND'S
CHOICE OF SPANISH FIRM
TO MANAGE I-95
TRAVEL PLAZAS
Bethesda-based hospitality management firm HMSHost is challenging the State of Maryland's decision to select Spanish subsidiary Areas USA to rebuild and operate two I-95 travel plazas.
By all accounts, HMSHost was not given equal negotiating opportunity to compete with a final, amended bid by Areas.
I have seen some of the proposed redesigns for the new facilities and they are promising. Areas brings a good track record and some interesting possible tenants for restaurant space in the Maryland and Chesapeake House plazas.
So I certainly don't have a problem with Areas coming to Maryland. It could be a great partnership with the state.
I don't have a problem with the state getting the best deal for the taxpayer; that is the job of our elected officials.
What I do have a problem with is the apparently unfair process. Only by fueling competition can one get the best deal. So if only one bidder is negotiating, the state clearly is going to pay more. With HMS at the table, the state could have still chosen Areas, but Areas would have had to sweeten its deal, in response to an almost-certainly sweetened offer from HMS.
To not take negotiations to their logical conclusion, state officials cannot credibly tell taxpayers they indeed have the best possible deal.
It's also troubling that Maryland would snub a company that has its international headquarters in Maryland(!!). And employs Marylanders right here in Bethesda.
Because of my great interest in interstate highways, I am familiar with HMSHost's rest stop operations around the country, and have always had a favorable impression. There's always room for improvement. And that's where competition comes in. Want the contract? Provide superior service at the lowest price.
If elected officials are going to talk a good game about jobs and efficient government spending, they'd better back it up with transparent negotiations. And not by excluding companies that pay heavy taxes in Montgomery County and Maryland.
We've witnessed the county council's attempts to drive out Lockheed Martin a few months back. Having contentious relationships with the few large firms willing to accept the pain of headquartering in Montgomery County is no way to run a railroad.
Or a travel plaza.
There has been a second company, Airport Plazas and Tishman Construction, joint bidders for the contract also,that has filed a protest on the awarding bid to Areas USA. They claim that the authority allowed Ares USA to ignore some of the requirements contained in the request for proposals.
ReplyDeleteWith this second company filing a complaint, it shows that HMS HOST, didn't file as a sore loser. That there were discrepincy in the bidding process.
The vice president of this company summed it up very well in saying " It's like Kobe Bryant hits a three-pointer to win the game and then the referees say: "they're not worth the three points anymore, they're worth one. YOU LOSE. "
Certainly the taxpayer wins when HMSHost and Airport Plazas/Tishman Construction are at the table with Areas. The way government bidding should work, is to negotiate until the competitors say they won't go any lower, and then you have the lowest bid. If the others are excluded in the final round, by definition, the state does not get the best possible price.
ReplyDeleteThere is also plenty of precedent for filing complaints in these cases. In fact, Areas USA has filed a similar complaint on an airport concessions bidding process in Arizona, I believe.