Putting a price on integrity

Under Guam's procurement law, all bidders and offerors must be responsible to qualify for award of a contract. Responsibility is defined to mean both the capability to perform as well as the integrity needed to assure good faith performance.

It is the duty of the Public Auditor to promote the "integrity" of the Guam procurement process.

In Massachusetts, a little lying on a resume doesn't seem to affect one's integrity if the government is not proven to have relied on the lie, particularly where the lying contractor saves the government a bunch of bucks. Another case of finding no harm from the foul.

Applicants to Harvard and Boston College might cite the situation to admissions personnel who question a little "padding" in your resume.

SJC ruling gives municipalities discretion in bidding process

At issue was the decision by Hanover officials to hire Callahan Inc., a Bridgewater-based firm, for the high school project even though it was discovered that the firm had provided fraudulent information to qualify for bidding. The company took credit for a North Andover high school building project, even though another corporation held the lead role, according to the court.

Losing bidders said Callahan should be disqualified from bidding for violating ethical rules. Coakley recommended that Hanover end its contract with Callahan and accept the next qualified bidder. Town officials refused, saying they took Callahan’s misdeeds into account.

The unanimous ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court clears the way for the town of Hanover to finish its $50 million new high school. The state’s high court said yesterday that local governments can hire companies for public works projects even if the firms misrepresented their track records, provided there is no sign of corruption in the bidding process.

But critics in the construction industry said the ruling undermines the spirit of the open, honest, public bidding process created by the Ward Commission after bid-rigging scandals in the 1970s.

“I think the likely result will be a compromising of the integrity of the competitive process," said Donald J. Siegel, a Boston attorney who represented the Foundation for Fair Contracting before the SJC.

Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office tried to halt the Hanover project after misrepresentations were discovered in the winning bidder’s paperwork, said accuracy is crucial.

“We believe all contractors who bid on public construction projects should accurately and fully describe their qualifications." she said in a statement.

Writing for the court, Justice Ralph W. Gants said Hanover’s actions were reasonable and not the result of official corruption or fraud. The SJC threw out an injunction issued by a lower court judge.

“We conclude that where, as here, there is no allegation that any member of the town’s prequalification committee acted corruptly in deciding to prequalify Callahan, there is unrefuted evidence that the committee did not act in reliance on any of the alleged misrepresentations, and the town wishes to proceed with the contract" the injunction must be dismissed.

The decision gives “discretion to procurement officers at the local level to really go for the lowest reliable and qualified bidder,’’ said Christopher Petrini, a Framingham attorney who represented municipal lawyers before the SJC. “The [Hanover] taxpayers got a project for $1 million less."’

Dennis Sheehan, vice president of Callahan Inc., said company officials are relieved.

“We’re certainly very pleased,’’ he said, adding “there was no intent to mislead anybody.’’