Pinellas keeps Bryant Miller & Olive over a commissioner's objection that a minority law firm should be given a chance.
By MICHAEL SANDLER
Published June 16, 2004
CLEARWATER - After debating efforts to help minority-owned law firms, Pinellas County commissioners voted Tuesday to keep the law firm that has been their bond counsel for more than a dozen years.
Commissioners voted 6-1 in favor of Bryant Miller & Olive of Tallahassee and Tampa continuing as their bond counsel for the next four years, with an option to renew for two more years.
The firm has received the county's business for 13 years.
The contract generally has paid the firm about $200,000 a year, county officials said.
The decision came despite strong objections from Ken Welch, one of two African-American commissioners. He said he was disappointed that a competing bidder, Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, did not receive extra credit for submitting a joint proposal with Rouson & Brumley, a minority-owned law firm in St. Petersburg.
Last month, that same team failed to persuade St. Petersburg officials to stop using Bryant Miller & Olive and give it a shot at working on the city's bond deals. Darryl Rouson, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, chained and locked himself to a chair for 10 minutes in the city attorney's office to protest.
At the County Commission meeting, Welch said he expected the proposal involving Rouson's firm to be granted 10 extra points out of 100 total. But the bid was ranked fourth, not quite seven points behind the winning firm.
Welch said he believed the county would award incentive points to firms that partner with small, minority-owned firms, helping them gain experience in the highly specialized area.
Had that been the case, he said, the joint proposal from Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson would have ranked first.
County Attorney Susan Churuti, who was among the five staff members who evaluated the bids, said Welch was mistaken.
Firms were asked to list all attorneys who have experience as bond counsel, and to submit information that demonstrated a commitment in advancing the county's goal of ensuring "full participation of all its citizens." The county would give special consideration to "minority persons or certified minority business enterprise" as defined under Florida law.
Churuti said Rouson & Brumley did not meet the state's criteria. She said the panel looked at each firm's commitment to recruiting and mentoring a diverse staff of bond lawyers over the past 20 years and that Bryant Miller & Olive had a strong history.
Churuti said it's more important to have minority lawyers "who are trained to be bond counsel, who have been mentored and supported for a myriad of years and who are in partnership positions in these firms," instead of a firm that "brings in a firm that has never been a bond counsel and doesn't have bond counsel experience."
Chairwoman Susan Latvala said the commission never formally discussed awarding bonus points in the manner Welch described. "We don't have a commitment to train people to do certain things, to learn certain skills, to become qualified in certain areas, so that they can get county contracts," she said. "My responsibility is to get the very best quality price level of service at the lowest cost to the taxpayers."
Welch disagreed. He said that rationale has allowed a single firm to continue gaining the government's business for nearly 20 years. "If you don't do this, you are going to have the same four or five firms doing this for another 20 years," he said. "Because no one can get their foot in the door."
Thomas Giblin, a partner with Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, had sent a letter disputing the award.
