Good news for taxpayers

It’s good news that the city of Portland is going to save nearly $50,000 in engineering costs on the north side sewer project.
It’s even better news that the city put the project out for bids.
Though not required in this instance, the bidding process keeps everybody on a level playing field and protects the interests of the taxpayers by getting the best possible price.
All too often, cities and towns and individual administrations become too close to a single engineering firm, turning to them automatically for expertise.
And inevitably, the engineering firm begins to take the municipal business for granted.
It happened during the administration of Mayor Jim Luginbill with Bonar and Associates, and it happened during the most recent administration with Schneider Corporation.
That’s not to say anything improper happened, just that the relationship became too comfortable and maybe too cozy.
The solution, as Mayor Randy Geesaman has pointed out, is going back to the marketplace on a regular basis to get competitive bids.
This time around, Commonwealth Engineering of Indianapolis won the city’s business. But it will be interesting to watch whether Commonwealth now becomes the Geesaman administration’s go-to engineering firm or has to compete for future projects.
That will be the real test. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]