Knox County's top purchasing agent on Thursday suggested that the
county's E-911 board declined to approve a contract to replace the
area's outdated emergency broadcasting system because of political
motivations.
His comments come a day after board members said they
wanted a do-over after an evaluation team spent more than 18 months
overseeing the bidding and negotiation process.
"I've been in this business for more than 25 years and the (Knox County
Purchasing Department) director since 1998 and every once in a while
there comes along an acquisition that lends itself to politics and
political influence, and sometimes your natural inclination as a
procurement (official) kicks in and you think: 'I don't think things are
going to work out as they should,'" Hugh Holt told WBIR 10News on
Thursday. "But, it's part of it and sometimes decisions aren't made
about what's the best business decision."
Holt said "99 percent of the time, when you do everything right, you typically get the result you expect."
The
purchasing director said he didn't take the board's decision
personally, but that his department followed the county's procurement
code, which the E-911 board adopted more than 20 years ago.
"There's
11 people on the board and there's 11 opinions, and the majority of
them may not have seen what that (evaluation) committee saw and what I
saw," he said. "The bid process was managed correctly and the proposals
were fully vetted."
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