The Pensacola News Journal has confirmed what Jesse Rigsby, attorney for Varona Enterprises of Florida, suspected–Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward failed to get FAA approval to give OHM Group a 10-year exclusive contract for airport food concessions without competitively bidding it.
PNJ reporter T.S. Stickland wrote in his column today that the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the city had not yet received approval to award the contract. The penalty for noncompliance is severe and puts into jeopardy the past decades of federal grant money.
In January, the Pensacola City Council failed to pass the mayor’s recommendation for OHM. The next six weeks the mayor’s office was silent. The council stepped in and passed a motion to give Varona a month-to-month extension while a new RFP was issued. Last week, Hayward vetoed it calling it an illegal act and one that put the city at risk for a lawsuit.
On Friday, he signed a contract with OHM saying that he wasn’t required to competitively bid it. He was flanked by Council members Andy Terhaar, Brian Spencer, Jewel Cannada-Wynn and Larry Johnson — a sign that he had the council votes to block the override of his veto.
At no time did the mayor notify the council or the public that he did not have FAA approval or let them know of the risk that the contract put the city in.