Outside Experts to Review Phone Bids

San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts, saying he has lost some of his confidence in the agency selecting a vendor for a lucrative city telephone contract, persuaded the council Tuesday to place the evaluation of bidders entirely in the hands of outside experts.

Roberts aired his suspicions after listening to a tape recording of the May 25 meeting of the San Diego Data Processing Corp., the agency given authority by the council to select vendors for the $12- to $18-million city government phone contract.

Unhappy with that selection process, Roberts last month led a move on the council to pressure the agency into reconsidering all seven firms competing for the contract to supply the city and the San Diego Convention Center with 7,100 phones.

‘Decision Already Made’

After listening to part of the tape-recorded public meeting, Roberts said he became convinced that some directors and staff members of the agency were attempting to find a way to ensure that their original choice, Tel Plus Communications, would again be awarded the contract.

“What it led me to feel was that there was a sense of ‘What can we do to salvage a decision we already made?’ ” Roberts said after Tuesday’s council meeting. He said that at least some of those present at the agency meeting appeared to believe that “we’re going through a bit of a show here.”

In interviews, however, data processing officials said their discussions concerned only the possibility that the public would perceive that the new selection process was a sham if the same firm were selected.

“My concern was the way it would be viewed,” said William D’Alessio, chairman of the agency’s board of directors. “I wanted everyone to be aware of that.”

At Roberts’ urging, the council voted 5 to 0 to leave agency officials off a new five-member committee that will hear oral presentations and final offers from all seven bidders for the pact. The panel will be composed of five independent experts, who will make a recommendation to the agency’s board of directors.

Still Have Authority

The directors still have the authority to make the final choice, but the council Tuesday left open the possibility of taking that power away from them when it reviews the matter July 17.

The data processing agency had selected Tel Plus and was prepared to begin negotiations with the firm before the council, led by Roberts and Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer, intervened May 16 and pressured the agency into the reconsideration.

The May 30 vote at which that was accomplished was canceled Monday and repeated Tuesday to allow Mayor Maureen O’Connor, Councilman Bruce Henderson and Wolfsheimer to abstain after City Atty. John Witt’s office determined that they violated state conflict-of-interest laws by participating in the earlier vote. All three hold substantial financial interests in parent companies or subsidiaries of bidders that will now be given a second chance to win the contract.