Install Contract Safeguards
The state’s $95-million computer software fiasco--software that few workers needed or wanted--could stem from bureaucratic bungling, conflict of interest, a campaign contribution payoff or all of the above. The attorney general and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee are investigating.
Computer systems have always caused the state grief. The Department of Information Technology was created presumably to develop the expertise to deal with computer and software systems. Even so, the state auditor says no one had the experience or ability to adequately evaluate the Oracle contract because the deal was unique.
The auditor says it will cost the state millions, yet it was rushed through various departments and approved with little challenge or analysis. Some officials raised red flags but never yelled, “Stop!” Some say the contract had to be signed by May 31, 2001, or the cost would go up. That should have been a stop sign in itself.
The governor’s Republican critics say Davis should have reviewed the contract himself. In truth, although a governor cannot totally divorce himself from any action his administration takes, reading contracts is the sort of detail that should be left to competent aides.
Another question is whether a $25,000 contribution from Oracle to Davis’ campaign had any influence on the computer contract decision. Davis and his aides insist the governor did not know about the contract before it was signed and was not aware of the contribution until after the pact was concluded. But considering the governor’s slavish fund-raising among groups with economic interests at stake in Sacramento, Davis must convince investigators there was no connection. The probers also need to determine why the check was drafted in March but not delivered until May, after the contract was approved.
More basically, why was a contract of this size awarded without bids from other firms? The auditor said the deal was not legally exempt from competitive bidding rules. This alone should have been cause for canceling it.
Lawmakers need to find a way to guarantee that employees of the Department of Information Technology have no conflicts of interest and then make the department solely responsible for these sorts of contracts.
Barring dramatic new revelations, the Oracle imbroglio is not likely to be the scandal the Republicans are salivating for in this election year. There is no sign of a crime, perhaps because state conflict-of-interest laws governing contracting of this kind are so loose. The various probes will take months, but the state should take quick action to avoid any shameful bureaucratic breakdown and boondoggle in the future.
