Last week, you’ll remember, TPMmuckraker was reporting on Shirlington Limousine, the limo company at the center of the ‘hookergate‘ scandal, and why a company with so many red flags managed to get a mega-contract from the Department of Homeland Security. (Shirlington has secured some $25 million in DHS contracts for shuttle service and executive limo driving, despite the company owner’s history of felonies and bankruptcies and the company’s record of poor service, repossessions, revoked transport licenses and other problems.)
On Friday, DHS officials insisted, in response to our questions, that the awards were on the “up-and-up.”
Now, last week a reader pointed out to me that in the federal contracting world, even if a company has some serious strikes against it, it can be difficult not to award them a given contract if they are the lowest bidder.
Point taken.
But today we get some more details from the Washington Post.
So did Shirlington provide the lowest bid? Turns out they didn’t, reports the Post. They got the award for “best value.”
(The award was challenged by a losing bidder on the grounds that Shirlington had falsely claimed to be located in a poor neighborhood, which would have increased its chances of winning the award.)
What’d DHS make of Shirlington’s getting canned for providing bad service to Howard University?
Hadn’t heard about it. Shirlington owner Christopher Baker didn’t mention it.
I guess they haven’t equipped DHS with that intel device Google.
His history of bankruptcies and vehicle repossessions? (According to records we’ve consulted, Baker was actually in bankruptcy for at least part of the time during which the contracts were awarded.)
Didn’t hear about that either apparently.
His numerous misdemeanor and two felony convictions? DHS doesn’t run background checks on contractors, they told the Post. They don’t run them against the terrorist watch list either.
Anybody wonder why this company got these contracts and whether it might have had something to do with his connections to Wilkes, Wade, Cunningham, et al.? Just wondering.
