Pensacola City Attorney Jim Messer has opined that the mayor can unilaterally award the airport food concessions contract without council approval because there is no city ordinance requiring him to do so. Based on that opinion, Mayor Ashton Hayward vetoed yesterday a council action to extend the current contract on a month-to-month basis will the city rebids the service. Hayward said in his veto message that he plans to give the contract to OHM, even though the city council rejected them in January.
The food concessions were put out for bid in March 2013. RFP 13-008, which was written by Hayward’s purchasing director, George Maiberger, and sent under the mayor’s name on the cover sheet states how the contract will be awarded. The RFP clearly stated that the city council retained the authority to select the successful proposer.
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The Airport will convene a panel to review all submittals that satisfy the minimum requirements. Following the panel’s review, the panel’s evaluation and recommendation will be forwarded to the Mayor for approval by the Pensacola City Council, which retains the authority to select the successful proposer.