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STEVE BOUSQUET"If your car breaks down on the side of the road, you don't put out bids for wreckers," the House speaker says.
TALLAHASSEE - House Speaker Johnnie Byrd has paid almost $3-million to computer companies and lawyers since November to operate and upgrade the House computer system.
House records show most of the money was paid to Jagged Peak, a Clearwater firm hired without a written state contract to work on a project begun in 2001 by another vendor, Hayes Computer Systems.
Hayes was hired by Byrd's predecessor, Tom Feeney, and his top aide, Paul Hawkes. Byrd said Friday that the system was "in a ditch" when he took over as speaker, so he ordered changes in the fall after glitches threatened to disrupt the launching of a new House Web site.
On Election Day 2002, before he officially became speaker, Byrd turned to Steve Burton, a lawyer friend he had just hired. Burton in turn hired Jagged Peak, a client of his Tampa law firm.
Byrd called it an "emergency situation" that didn't leave time for competitive bids.
"What else would you do?" Byrd said Friday. "If your car breaks down on the side of the road, you don't put out bids for wreckers. You get the car out of the ditch. That's what we did."
Byrd's actions triggered a lawsuit, filed in March by Hayes, that demands the House pay $2.9-million under its contract or return the computer equipment. A judge has denied Hayes' demand to return the equipment. The money is in escrow, and the House is using the equipment.
The two sides also are at odds over who legally owns the rights to the domain name www.myfloridahouse.com the House Web site.
"We own the system, and they've neither paid for it nor rejected it," said G. Donovan Conwell Jr., Hayes' attorney. "We're just out there in limbo."
In recent months, Byrd hired four companies on a competitive basis to make improvements to the House computer system and added a new technology director. Besides the payments to Jagged Peak, the House also made these computer-related payments since November 2002:
$425,000 to Burton's law firm, Broad & Cassel, which represents the House in the Hayes lawsuit. Byrd hired Burton at a rate of $250 an hour on Election Day 2002, before the Plant City Republican became speaker.
$280,000 to Software Architects of Tampa.
$159,000 to three other software companies - CSI, Youngsoft and Ajilon - which performed various services on the system.
The payments total $2,989,553.60. The summary of expenses by the House notes: "Not all changes are specifically for corrective action, and some routine IT (information technology) staffing work may be included."
The computer system runs the official House Web site, which Byrd has used to showcase the Republican agenda and seek input from Florida residents. Some House Democrats have accused Byrd of using the Web site to build a database of voter e-mail addresses that could help him as he pursues the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat.
This week, Byrd sent a "citizen survey" to thousands of Floridians, asking them to rank major issues in importance and to submit ideas on how to improve the Web site. Respondents who want their opinions included are required to provide e-mail addresses.