As he has turned state government into an assembly line for privatization, Gov. Jeb Bush has told critics not to worry. If the companies don't live up to expectations, he says, they simply can be fired.
So how does he explain BearingPoint?
The company's state and federal government contracts are under investigation in Tallahassee and Washington, and the governor's latest chief information officer, Simone Marstiller, abruptly canceled a $126-million technology deal in September. Marstiller, noting a legislative audit that questioned irregularities in the way the bid was awarded, said: "Until we know we have a clean, transparent procurement process that is above reproach, the State Technology Office can't move forward."
Three months later, the Technology Office has yet to receive a stamp of approval. But guess who is still running the state computer data center? Yes, BearingPoint was just awarded a new one-year, $1.4-million contract extension.
The governor advances an odd defense for rehiring BearingPoint. He says the company has performed its work credibly and writes that he has spoken privately with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which will not publicly comment about its investigation, and has learned "there does not appear to be any criminal wrongdoing on the part of the company." In other words, the company has not broken the law; therefore it cannot be denied the state's business.
The approach has state Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, the Fort Lauderdale Democrat who has raised objections to various private contracts, scratching his head. "Practically and from a perspective of using God-given business practices," he says, "you don't fire someone and then hire them back."
Senate President Tom Lee has promised the Legislature will finally begin to ask some serious questions this year about the spiraling growth in privatized government and whether it is fulfilling the promise of saving tax money. He can begin with BearingPoint, which also is being criticized in Congress for a celebrated and costly computer failure at Bay Pines VA Medical Center. If a government faces no choice but to award its work to a company whose previous contract is under a cloud, then can it ever reasonably expect to hold any private contractor accountable?
