#MTGov Daily Rundown: Questions Raised Over Bullock Admin's Awarding of State Tourism Marketing Contract

Many across Montana were surprised by last week's news that the Bullock Administration's Department of Commerce was awarding it's $7 million tourism marketing contract to a firm in Wisconsin, Hoffman York. Several Montana companies were competing for the contract. The contract was previously held by Bozeman-based Mercury CSC, leading to new questions about the evaluation process.

"The department awarded the contract to Milwaukee agency Hoffman York at the beginning of August using a point system it says is objective to evaluate bidders. But several agencies involved in and familiar with the bidding argue that the process is far from scientific and that the state demonstrated strange behavior bordering on favoritism. "-Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 8/22/2016


Interestingly, Jennifer Pelej, bureau chief for the tourism office's marketing department, disclosed a month into the process that she has a cousin who works as an executive for Hoffman York. Pelej also used to work for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

 "More than a month into the selection process, Pelej also disclosed that her cousin, Jaime Hutchings, works for Hoffman as a VP account supervisor." -Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 8/21/2016

 Pelej is also a former employee of the anti-coal National Wildlife Federation.


For some reason, the rules were changed at the last minute, and scores changed dramatically. Critics of the contract award have also noticed that, somehow, an out-of-state company scored much higher on "understanding the Montana brand than the Montana based companies.

"Questions arose early on when officials unexpectedly extended the deadline for the agencies to submit their first response — a 100-plus page document that applicants had weeks to prepare — five hours before it was due. When asked by an applicant about the reason for the extension, Procurement Unit Supervisor Tia Snyder wrote that the state wanted “to give all Offeror’s (sic) a chance to better prepare their response to this solicitation.” -Bozeman Daily Chronicle 8/21/2016

"The decision to award the contract came down to agency presentations, which included several categories such as 'Understanding of the Montana brand' and 'Highly credentialed and qualified staff.” Brickhouse, the points leader after the first two rounds of evaluation, received failing scores in all seven categories, while Hoffman received the highest score of 'superior' in all seven." -Bozeman Daily Chronicle 8/21/2016

“'For me, the thing that is a bit dismaying is thinking how long it’s taken for me and my staff to ‘get Montana,' said David Thompson, founder of Brickhouse Creative in Bozeman. 'It really is a special thing, and I get worried when someone else not from here is in charge of it. That’s the part that makes me scratch my head a little bit.'" -Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 8/21/2016


The Great Falls Tribune editorial board has joined a growing chorus questioning the contract award.
"We think Montanans should be able to feel confident that this new contract was awarded solely on the basis of merit, but the subjective ranking system doesn’t instill that confidence, especially with a relative working at the contract winner. Professional services are not subject to competitive bidding laws in Montana, but that doesn’t mean state government should give away the dairy farm as if it’s a bowl of cottage cheese." -Great Falls Tribune, 8/26/2016


This isn't the first time that Bullock Administration officials have been questioned about possible conflicts of interest in the awarding of state contracts. Earlier this year, news broke that a Bullock Administration official had direct ties to a Butte based non-profit from which the state leased a facility in Galen to house some of the patients from the closing Montana Developmental Center in Boulder.

“There was no competitive bidding process to award the Galen lease. In fact, officials said Wednesday they didn’t even look at potential alternatives to the $1.2 million annual agreement.
That's how the state’s newest landlord became Community Counseling and Correctional Services -- a Butte-based nonprofit that employs Brandie Villa, a top company accountant and the wife of Governor’s Office Budget Director Dan Villa.

The move has left some wondering how a building owned by Brandie Villa’s bosses -- one that might have sat vacant and heavy on CCCS’ books, in the absence of a state-backed lease -- suddenly became Montana’s first and only choice to house a mental health facility.” -Helena Independent Record, 4/8/2016