State: McKay directs state job to IBM

TALLAHASSEE -- On his last day in office and just hours before the polls closed on Election Day, Senate President John McKay overruled his staff and shifted a $1.3-million computer services contract to IBM.

The last-minute decision is likely to be overturned by incoming Senate President Jim King. The Jacksonville Republican said Tuesday he probably will overturn McKay's decision and award the contract to Infinity Software Development Inc., the Tallahassee company that submitted the top-rated proposal.

McKay said he was concerned that Infinity was not big enough to handle the work. Because the precise language could not be worked out at the last minute, McKay's Nov. 5 contract with IBM includes a 30-day cancellation clause that requires the Senate to pay IBM for the services it provides during that period before the contract is canceled.

"If Sen. King doesn't like what I did, it's within his ability to terminate it," McKay said Tuesday.

King said McKay never discussed the contract with him. He said he was unaware of it until a friend handed him a packet of information about the switch last week.

"I do know there was a selection team that interviewed, investigated and evaluated it before giving the project to Infinity," King said. "Then subsequent to that, McKay changed it out of leftfield."

The contract is the first phase of revamping an antiquated Senate computer system that is expected to cost $8-million to $9-million when completed.

McKay chose IBM, despite Michigan's problems with the company on a similar job. In 1996, Michigan legislators hired IBM to update its bill-tracking system with a $3.6-million contract. In 1999, after costs topped $5-million and the project was still not satisfactorily completed, Michigan canceled the contract and started over with a new company.

McKay said he knew IBM had some problems in the past, but he said the company is much more experienced and has more resources than Infinity.

A Senate staff committee appointed by McKay ranked Infinity first and IBM last after reviewing five proposals for revamping the system. Members of the committee were Senate Secretary Faye Blanton, Chief of Staff Greg Krasovsky and Shelley McCabe. The staff also recommended against signing any contract with IBM.

After the Oct. 3 staff review, McKay signed a statement tentatively awarding the contract to Infinity.

McKay said he did not discuss the contract with IBM lobbyist Gene McGee, the man hired to run the Senate's Republican campaigns this year. McGee also helped McKay raise money to promote a tax reform package earlier this year.

McGee said he left the work on the computer contract to fellow lobbyist Matt Bryan. Bryan declined to discuss the contract Tuesday.

Tom Lynch, owner of Infinity, said he was under the impression that no lobbyists were supposed to be involved in the contract negotiations. Infinity does not currently have a registered lobbyist. In addition to McGee, IBM employs lobbyists such as former Sen. Curt Kiser and Martha Barnett of Holland & Knight.

"In this case, we didn't think we needed a lobbyist," Lynch said.

"We had to propose a specific team, and the staff looked at our team of 11 to 20 people by name and liked our technical solutions," Lynch said Tuesday. "I thought they thought we were the best proposal. I don't know why it went backwards."

Lynch said he didn't get the feeling that the project was politicized and is puzzled over why McKay changed his mind.

McKay said he believes Infinity overestimated the hours it would take to complete the project. Infinity estimated it would require more than 13,000 hours of work while IBM estimated it would take 1,500 hours. The Senate's evaluation team thought IBM had seriously underestimated the requirements of the contract.

The evaluation team listed IBM's cost as $346,000 and noted that other bids were substantially higher. Internal e-mails among Senate staffers indicate that IBM did not understand the requirements of the contract.

Infinity was established in 1994 and has worked for a number of state agencies.

"We've probably handled 300 to 400 jobs over the eight years," Lynch estimated.

-- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

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