“BE fair.” Growing up, that was a statement I am sure we all heard quite often. Between my parents and my teachers, it was told to me so often that it is strongly ingrained into my psyche.
Trying to teach children about fairness is no easy task; just ask my parents. “Why does Lynn get a bigger portion?” “How come Gloria gets to stay up and I have to go to bed early?” These are only two of seven million questions I bombarded my parents with while growing up. Amazing how they tried to instill fairness in their children while almost losing their patience in the process.
Over time and through life’s valuable lessons, the concept of fairness eventually sank in, in spite of those who tried to muddle this all-important virtue with comments like, “Hey kid, take all you can, because life ain’t fair!” I am fortunate that I had persistent parents and teachers who never gave up on me.
Yes, life is not fair. That is certain. But that doesn’t mean we must abandon treating people with fairness. If anything, we should work harder to ensure fairness in everything we do.
So why am I writing about fairness? Because it is something that seems to be sorely missing in the Fitial administration these days.
I was disheartened to find out that Management Analysis, Inc. landed a $300,000 contract to perform desk audits for DCCA and DPS. Of course, we all found out later that Lynn Knight worked for MAI, but hey, that’s just a coincidence, right? Wink wink.
While desk audits are definitely needed for our government agencies, where was the RFP for these desk audits?
I never read about them. None of my friends did either. To add insult to injury, Fitial’s PIO Angel Demapan says that this desk audit is not binding and that the administration doesn’t have to use it. Okay Angel, so what was this urgent need to do the desk audit in the first place? This makes about as much sense as a doctor performing a biopsy to see if a person’s tumor is malignant or benign, only to tell the patient later that the biopsy didn’t really matter. For $300,000, you darn well better follow the desk audit! We could have hired two new doctors up at CHC for that amount! It sure would have been nice if some local companies here in the CNMI had an opportunity to bid for the desk audits. To say that there are no local companies in the CNMI who could perform a desk audit is quite insulting.
While I was disheartened by MAI’s desk audit contract, I was disgusted and agitated by a whopping $392,000 sole-source contract awarded to Michael Ada. A few days earlier, Ada said he was resigning from his post as Commerce Secretary because he wanted to concentrate on his doctorate. Within a few days, before the ink on the contract could even dry, we find out that Ada bagged a sole-source contract worth nearly $400,000 to administer ARRA funding for 18 months.
So let me get this straight. Michael Ada quits his job so he will have adequate time to focus on getting his doctorate. Yet, somehow, he will now find time to administer ARRA funding while still going to school. Make up your mind, Mike! You’re too busy to work as Commerce Secretary, but you are not too busy to administer ARRA funding? Hmmmm. Perhaps you will only be putting in part-time hours as the ARRA administrator? Wow, that’s a pretty nice contract if that is the case. I’d love to get a $400,000 contract to work part-time. I hope you are hiring, because I know a bunch of people who just got a 25 percent pay cut and are struggling to pay their CUC bill and put food on the table while you just more than quadrupled your former salary as Commerce Secretary.
Way to go, Mike! Someone asked me yesterday when this news came out, “How does Mike Ada sleep at night?”
I replied, “With this new fat sole-source contract, very comfortably.” It seems Michael Ada just won the lottery. However, there was one major difference in the lottery he won: there was only one ticket in the lottery, and he was holding it the entire time.
Here are a few questions that need to be answered with regard to Mike Ada’s sole-source contract to administer ARRA funding:
1. How long has Michael Ada’s company, Integrated Professional Solutions, been in business? How many employees does he have? How much experience does his company have?
2. Are there other businesses in the CNMI and within the United States that could have qualified to administer ARRA funding for the CNMI? If yes, why weren’t they allowed to respond to an RFP? Could another company have done the same work for less?
3. Is there a conflict of interest with this contract? Was this contract created specifically with Michael Ada in mind? Is there anything here that is unethical or illegal?
4. Why can’t the Deputy Secretary of Commerce and the Commerce employees work together to administer the ARRA funding? Why can’t Governor Fitial hire a new Commerce Secretary to administer the ARRA funding? Why can’t Ada be contracted for two months to train Commerce employees on how to administer ARRA funding?
5. Where is OPA in all of this? How about the Attorney General’s Office? Will there be an investigation by OPA and the Attorney General?
6. Can you sole-source contracts with ARRA funding? Wasn’t the purpose of ARRA funding to stimulate local businesses and small businesses? Didn’t President Obama want to “spread the wealth?” By sole-sourcing, doesn’t this bypass local procurement procedures for amounts over $10,000?
These are six questions I came up with in only five minutes, but I am sure there are other people in our community who could ask even better questions.
The major concern is not about the qualifications and experience of MAI or Michael Ada. But everyone is questioning the fairness and integrity of these two contracts, and they have every right to do so. The bottom line? Sole-sourcing eliminates fairness and integrity.
I am sure that Fitial and his underlings will have an excuse for these contracts, just like they have an excuse for the rest of their questionable actions.
In closing, I sincerely hope and pray that the CNMI will one day see a better future. But it will not happen with an administration that repeatedly ignores guidelines and procedures aimed at fairness.
We can do better. And we deserve better. However, without a system of fairness and without proper checks and balances mixed in with proper punishment, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes that have plagued our government and cheated our people out of a prosperous future.
May God bless the good people of the Commonwealth.
ED PROPST
Dandan, Saipan
