Controversy Delays City-Government Phone Contract

Leaders of San Diego Data Processing Corp. agreed Tuesday to delay the award of a multimillion-dollar contract for a new city-government telephone system after an afternoon of withering scrutiny from City Council members unhappy with the selection process.

The corporation, a nonprofit arm of the city that was given authority in 1986 to choose a telephone contractor, has selected Siemens/Telplus from among seven bidders for the $12-million to $18-million pact to provide 7,100 telephones throughout the city and in the new San Diego Convention Center.

But the corporation’s executive vice president, Robert Metzger, said after Tuesday’s heated council session that he will postpone negotiations on final contract terms.

Led by Councilman Ron Roberts, the council voted, 5 to 1, to discuss the matter again in two weeks and gave itself three options: to separate the Convention Center contract from the citywide pact; to withdraw Data Processing Corp.’s authority to represent the city or to order Data Processing to accept “last, best offers” from all seven bidders.

Vote Despite Legal Opinions

The vote came despite legal opinions from city and Data Processing attorneys that the corporation’s nine-member board of directors is not obligated to follow council directives about a contractor choice. Larry Marshall, the corporation’s attorney, suggested that the council may not have the authority to disband the corporation without finding a breach of the pact between the two agencies.

Marshall and Metzger also said that forcing Data Processing to accept new bids from all seven contractors could delay the selection by three months, possibly delaying phone service to the convention center and two recently renovated floors of City Hall.

The council members forced an unscheduled review of the contract after losing bidders--including Pacific Bell, AT&T; and Bell South Communications Systems--complained that they were not given the usual opportunity to make oral presentations to the corporation.

Bids Ranked Based on Answers

Instead, their bids were ranked based on hundreds of pages they submitted to answer questions from the corporation, with Siemens/Telplus the clear winner. Metzger said the oral presentations were not needed because of Siemens/Telplus’ superiority over other bidders.

Council members questioned whether the process was best for the city, demanding to know how the rankings were derived and whether the result prevented competition that could drive prices down. Only Deputy Mayor Judy McCarty voted against the delay, which was supported by council members Abbe Wolfsheimer, Ron Roberts, Gloria McColl, Wes Pratt and Ed Struiksma.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor was absent--as were Councilmen Bruce Henderson and Bob Filner--but her chief of staff delivered a sometimes sardonic attack on the council’s actions on her behalf.

“The council can only make mischief in this arena,” Ben Dillingham said.