Feb. 05--Tinley Park officials unveiled a proposed purchasing policy Tuesday night that could prevent politically connected firms from receiving exclusive business from the south suburb.
The policy is being amended to ensure staff receives multiple quotes on certain purchases and to institute periodic meetings between the village and potential vendors to let businesses know of tentative and scheduled bids, among other changes.
The proposed revisions come after the Tribune reported numerous stories throughout 2014 about no-bid business being handed to companies with extensive ties to Tinley Park's leaders.
The proposed policy also recommends that village staff "rotate the purchase" when purchasing from local businesses.
"What we don't want to do is just say rotate (purchases) for the sake of rotating, and all of a sudden we lose something or we get a product or a price that's not as good as the other one," said Dave Niemeyer, village manager. "But certainly, we want to make sure that (if) we have three or four businesses in town that have similar products, similar qualities, similar service, that they're all given a fair chance."
The policy revisions still require full approval from village officials.
Last year, the Tribune reported that village officials spent $119,000 since 1989 for food from Ed Joe's Restaurant and Pizzeria, whose owner is chairman of an influential Tinley Park commission. This was significantly more money than was spent at the next-closest competitor.
In 2011, Tinley Park awarded a garbage contract worth at least $24 million to a politically connected firm tied to a longtime commissioner -- extending a contract that's been given to the same company since 1993.
A Tribune analysis showed that a flower shop owned by family of the mayor's secretary did $176,000 worth of business with the village over the years, about eight times more than its nearest competitor in the same time frame.
And Crossmark Printing, a company owned by the mayor's most recent campaign manager, did $1 million in business with the village since 2004. More than 100 other vendors combined received less than $700,000 for printing business in the same time frame.
Under the proposed policy, which was unveiled at the village's Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting Tuesday, staff would need to receive three or more quotes on any purchase over $5,000. Niemeyer said that's been the village's informal practice but it's now being codified.
The most controversial item in the proposed policy would require village employees to disclose if they own businesses that the village uses.
"To avoid the potential for or the appearance of favoritism or collusion" on purchases, any item or service bought from a business owned in whole or part by a village employee must be disclosed by the employee on a form.
Trustees Dave Seaman and Greg Hannon expressed concerns about creating a bureaucracy with the requirement.
gpratt@tribpub.com
Twitter @royalpratt
