The City of San Antonio is not going to barge ahead in awarding one of the most lucrative and high profile contracts at its disposal, the right to exclusively operate the barges on the Riverwalk for the coming decade, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
City staffers on Thursday were prepared to recommend to City Council that a Chicago firm, which placed first in the final review of four bidders for the contract, be approved. But Mayor Ivy Taylor says she has been told of complaints about potential favoritism in the review process, so City Manager Sheryl Sculley pulled the plug."
Ultimately, our goal is for the mayor and City Council to have confidence in the process, and to vote to approve the contract," Sculley said. "In an effort to ensure this level of confidence, staff will start the process over for this contract in an expedited fashion."
Officials haven't officially said what the alleged 'favoritism' entailed, but one City official told News Radio 1200 WOAI that the winning firm had hired attorney and former Mayor Phil Hardberger as its local representative, and, out of deference to Hardberger's position as a former mayor, the team conducting the review allowed Hardberger to speak during the process, something that was not allowed of the attorneys for the other three competitors.
There are no allegations that Hardberger did anything wrong, and the source said he didn't know that his addressing the review panel was anything controversial.
The Request for Proposals will be released on March 1 for 30 days. After those bids are reviewed, City Council will be asked to approve an agreement for the operator to not only offer barge tours, the provide taxi services, retail sales, and dining and parties on the new barges, which are being delivered to the City this year.
Rio San Antonio Cruises, which currently holds the contract, will be granted an extension until the new contract is approved. Rio San Antonio and two other local firms are the other bidders for the contract.