Several Augusta commissioners say they were blindsided on Jan. 30 when Procurement Department Director Geri Sams announced her department had sent out requests for proposals for emergency services (RFP).
AmeriPro, headquartered out of Jacksonville, Fla., won the bid, which was rejected by the Augusta Commission.
“(Sams) showed up to the meeting and stated on the floor her staff had been up through the night working on issuing the RFP, and we were, kinda, taken aback,” District 10 Commissioner Wayne Guilfloyle said.
According to District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight, Sams exceeded her authority when she issued the RFP.
McKnight says that while Gold Cross EMS had surrendered its ownership of the Augusta/Richmond County zone, in an effort to give the zone to the city, a month-to-month agreement was in place, so there was no reason for the Procurement Department to strike out on its own to find a replacement.
Nowhere in section three of the Procurement Guidelines, which outlines the role of the department director, does language give the director the ability to issue an RFP on his or her own. A request must be made by a department head, the city administrator or the commission, according to the guidelines.
“There was never a vote by the commission authorizing (Sams) to put out that RFP. I don’t remember a vote, unless I was asleep, which I can assure you I was not,” McKnight said.
In fact, according to District 8 Commissioner Brandon Garrett, it was Sams’ meddling that began the process of plunging the city into a crisis over the emergency services in the first place. She would not allow the city to sign a contract with Gold Cross EMS, claiming a contract with the carrier would not be legal.
“(Sams) blocked a contract with Gold Cross because she said we couldn’t sole source it even though they owned the zone. That’s how the MOU came into existence,” Garrett said.
The Augusta Procurement Guidelines gives the director the authority to “seek technical assistance” from the “agency” requesting the RFP, but it does not give the director the ability to form a secret evaluation committee to open the bids and make a final determination on the winner.
In the Feb. 9 commission meeting, Sams refused to release to the Augusta Commission the names of the individuals serving on the committee to accept the bids, stating that the information was not covered under open records.
Under the threat of legal action by The Augusta Press, the Procurement Department finally released the names of the committee and among them were Fire Chief Antonio Burden and his lieutenant, Interim Administrator Takiyah Douse and her deputy, 911 Director Daniel Dunlap and Finance Director Donna Williams and her assistant. There was only one un-named representative of the Procurement Department on the evaluation committee.
This is the first time in memory that a secret evaluation committee has been formed to open and discuss previously sealed bids, according to multiple sources, including former commissioner Jerry Brigham.
“I can’t think of a time when something like that occurred, but I can tell you that if it had occurred, it wouldn’t have been received very well,” Brigham said.
Not only did Sams refuse to release the names of the evaluation committee, but she also only submitted the bid that was deemed the winner, AmeriPro EMS, and that bid was incomplete, according to Garrett.
According to Sams, even though all three bids had been unsealed, they were not all subject to public inspection. The city policy, however, presents a different process. The city policy does allow for proprietary or confidential infromation contained in a sealed bid to be withheld, but it affirmatively states, “The responses [to an RFP] will be open for public inspection” once the contract has been awarded.
The policy, which can be found online at https://www.augustaga.gov/685/Guidelines-Procedures, continues: “Sealed Bids shall be opened publicly in the presence of one or more witnesses at the time and place designated in the public notice and invitation for bids. The amount of each bid, and such other relevant information as the Procurement Director deems appropriate, together with the name of each bidder shall be recorded; the record, and each bid, shall be open to public inspection in accordance with Section 1-10-5 (Public Access to Procurement Information).”
The entire process unfolded under a veil of secrecy. Zoom meetings were held with representatives of AmeriPro and Gold Cross; however, even though the city relented and released the URL addresses of the two interviews, YouTube lists the meetings as private, and they cannot be streamed.
It is unclear if there were other Zoom or in-person meetings.
Once the bids were made public, it became apparent that AmeriPro failed to meet the requirements of the RFP.
One requirement in the RFP was for the business to have held an ambulance license in Georgia for five years. AmeriPro used the ambulance license of Ambulance Services Inc., a recently purchased subsidiary, to meet that requirement; however, the bid requires that all companies involved must meet the requirement, and AmeriPro EMS does not.
AmeriPro was not the lowest bidder. Gold Cross EMS submitted a bid with a $1.9 million annual subsidy, and AmeriPro’s bid asked for nearly $2.4 million.
The policy does not require the bids to be awarded to the lowest bidder, but, according to the policy, if another bidder is selected, “a full and complete statement of the reasons for awarding the purchase order or other contract shall be prepared and signed by the Procurement Director and/or Administrator and made part of the record on file.”
Gold Cross EMS lost points because the secret committee deemed the company to be headquartered outside of Augusta, yet only Gold Cross’ administration office is in Columbia County. The Shop Administration and AU Health Division headquarters for Gold Cross EMS are in Richmond County.
McKnight says that she is shocked that Sams, an otherwise well-respected bureaucrat, would operate outside of her own guidelines and the law itself and speculates that manipulation was likely going on behind the scenes, but she declined to name names.
“You know who’s involved. Everybody knows who’s involved, and this isn’t right. This whole thing has been so unfair to Gold Cross,” McKnight said.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson says that while he is unaware of any “hidden hand” in the procurement situation, he is disappointed that the process was not conducted in the open.
“If (Trauma Region 6 Council) can hold their meetings publicly and make public recommendations, then the city Procurement Department should be able to do the same. The process has to be transparent, or you get questions,” Johnson said.
The Georgia Office of EMS and Trauma Region 6 Council has recommended Central EMS to be given the zone, effectively cutting out the city of Augusta.
Central EMS did not bid on the RFP, meaning that if the state makes them the official provider, then they can charge the city any amount that they want.
“I’m interested to see how (Sams) plays this next round after the state awards the new provider,” Garrett said.
Sams, who is normally quick to return a phone call, did not respond to requests for comment.
