Wisdom, Courage and Flip-Flopping in The Elk Grove Ford Deal

UPDATED UPDATED No matter how you cut it, the Elk Grove Ford-Downtown Ford contract deal has been a blemish for the City of Elk Grove. ...

UPDATED UPDATED


No matter how you cut it, the Elk Grove Ford-Downtown Ford contract deal has been a blemish for the City of Elk Grove.

A story in today's Sacramento Bee offered three different ways to handle the mess.

Mayor Jim Cooper came clean and acknowledged the council's fouled-up. "In hindsight, we made a wrong decision that night," Cooper said. "It was good-intentioned. But Downtown Ford won it (the bidding) fair and square and we should have awarded the contract."

Council Member Gary Davis took a different tact and has maintained his position and expressed disappointment in the tentative ruling tossing out the contract awarded to Elk Grove Ford.

"I think it was short-sighted," Davis said. "I will continue to stand by our local businesses."

For his part Council Member Pat Hume was not directly quoted but the story stated "Now Hume says he will urge that the council grant the contract immediately to Downtown Ford."

(Council members Steve Detrick and Sophia Scherman were not quoted in the Bee's story.)

Readers will recall that it was Hume who strongly advocated awarding the contract to Elk Grove Ford even though they were the higher bidder.

(See video above of Hume urging the council "to do whats right" during the December 14, 2011 city council meeting.)

So who has the right position?

Props to Cooper for acknowledging the mistake. Politically it is probably the smartest position to take and a bit refreshing in this day of political double talk and endless spinning.

And while many may not agree with Davis' position, he at least has taken a stance to support local businesses and has the courage to maintain it. You have to respect someone who takes a position and sticks with it.

Then there is Hume.

As readers will recall, it was Hume who pulled the item from the consent calender that led to this fiasco. Now that the matter has gone south, Hume has not shown the wisdom to admit the mistake or the courage to stand by his convictions.

Is this just a flip-flop on Hume's part or is he lacking the courage or wisdom to either admit a mistake or take a principled stand?

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9 comments

Anonymous said...

Just like Siskel and Ebert gave their thumbs up or thumbs down for rating movies, here is my take on this local movie--not sure if I would classify it as a comedy, melodrama, or a horror flick, but for sure it's an ongoing series with another sequel coming soon at a Council Chamber near you!

Thumbs up to Cooper for being honest. A mistake was made, but it cost Downtown Ford some legal fees to bring it before a judge for justice to be served. Nevertheless, this cowboy takes the high road and follows the law.

A sideways thumb for Hume. He stirred up this hornet's nest as a matter of principle, and should not be faulted for that. As the judge would say, timing is everything, but he needed to speak up before the contract went out to bid. But this "buy local" sympathy campaign for EG Ford is a scam. The taxpayers already gave EG Ford $500,000 in incentive money when they located here last year. Just like the recent "Great State Office Tax Dollar Giveaway" movie, enough is enough!

Thumbs down to Davis. Had it not been for Hume pulling the item from the agenda, all of our characters would have approved the staff recommendation for Downtown Ford. But now that he committed himself to an illegal position, he is going to dig in his spurs and blame the messenger. The Bee quotes him calling someone (the Judge?) or something short-sighted?? This actor wants to turn a court loss into a personal relations victory.

No thumbs for Detrick and Scherman. Their next campaign disclosure statements might shed a little more light on this movie, but it appears they are getting ready for the next movie.

And finally, thumbs down to the movie's director, contract City Attorney Hobbs. He shot from the hip that night and gave bum advice. Instead of hitting the villian (Downtown Ford), he shot himself in the foot and the ricochet hit us taxpayers in the wallet. Only an attorney that is paid by the hour, wins by losing!

Next week's movie previews may feature clips from "Shootout in Dallas- Local Yokels March Into Howard Hughes' offices with moneybags open", or the "Great Apartment Smoking Ban--chewing tobacco okay".

Capt. Benjamin L. Willard said...

Well here we go. It's Saturday night and Claudine and I have had an ample supply of French wine so here goes nothing on a side topic.

We agree with the above "reviewer" and they make a good argument for elimination of term limits. Cowboy Cooper has really grown into his role as a councilman.

I have not always supported Capt. Cooper, but he is showing wisdom that comes with years on the job. He and the council made a mistake and he admitted it.

Anonymous said...

Everyone has an idea. They are talking all over each other with their ideas! How about this idea: Sticking to the legal bidding process regarding this contract so that it didn't become tainted and cause a lawsuit?

We have heard for years that the five council members can only hold each other accountable during meetings. We even have a Sacramento County Grand Jury ruling which basically says, “Silence means consent.” The grand jury stated that the council members must correct each other if they know them to be incorrect on the record for all to hear. That was not done in this case.

What assurances do we have that the competitive bidding process has not been further tainted in the past or will be in the future?

Every single company who does business with the city of Elk Grove must have complete confidence in this government when comes to awarding contracts in a fair and equitable manner.

We have all learned from many years of experience that it’s not what you do but the perception of what you do that raises questions. That leads to a big shame you to Pat Hume!

Anonymous said...

Now I see this item is on the closed agenda for Wednesday's meeting. Will the posse emerge to tell us they have "seen the light"? I'd love to hear how Hume gets out of this one. Let's see....I forgot my reading glasses. Ooops, that won'w work, he doesn't wear glasses. How about the dog ate his council binding with all his notes? Wrong again...don't think he has a dog. He could always point to Sophia and say it was her fault. Nope, Sophia only followed Hume down that rabbit hole. As for Davis, he has always upheld the process, but I guess even stead fast principles can be compromised for political donations and back slapping. Shop LOCAL works both ways Mr. Davis. I don't believe falling on that sword is going to help you much. You are obligated to spend our tax dollars in a fiduciary manner. At least Cooper is coming around. He sheepishly tried to stop this train during the council session, but his half-a@@ed efforts did not pick up steam. Dissappointed that this cost us all in time, effort and additional legal fees. Sad but such is life in Elk Grove.

Anonymous said...

Look again. Hume has said he was misquoted by Loretta Kalb and that he still supports awarding the contract to EG Ford. With Sophia wagging her tail behind him, I read 3 votes for EG Ford. We'll see what happens....

Anonymous said...

Well it looks like Mr. Hume has done a Flip-Flop-Flip on us. EG Ford must have put a little pressure on him.....they couldn't just take the $500,000 incentive we gave them and say "well, fair is fair, they won the contract." I'm just sorry this fiaso has cost Downtown Ford because of what I call negligence by some of our leaders and it looks like the majority still don't have the b---- to do what is right.

Anonymous said...

Seems Mr. Hume has Flipped-Flopped & Flipped again. Must have had a call from Me. EG Ford to set him straight.

It seems from Mr. Davis' comments that the city doesn't have to follow the RFP's...just award it to the local business. That would seem to mean RFP's would no longer be necessary. I find it rather disappointing that he doesn't think we should follow the rules in place.

That being said, I would think that the city would need to first define a "local" business. Is it any business with a location in say, Sacramento County? Or is it just the city of Elk Grove? Is there a dollar amount involved...say anything under $50,000. we award locally. We are a small community to be considering awarding many contracts locally.

Whatever declaration decided upon it should not apply in this case. A business spent many hours preparing this RFP and we should honor that RFP. Our word should mean more than that.

Also, Mr. EG Ford, don't forget that big $500,000. incentive we taxpayers gave to you. Suck it up, you lost the contract!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this comes down to the city attorney and his current "opinion" of the situation. It appears they all know this fiasco was handled improperly but under the giese of "shop local" they're going to try to double speak their way around the lawsuit. Heaven forbid that the city attorney give any more advice.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this comes down to the city attorney and his current "opinion" of the situation. It appears they all know this fiasco was handled improperly but under the giese of "shop local" they're going to try to double speak their way around the lawsuit. Heaven forbid that the city attorney give any more advice.

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