Next Generation Computers wants to ‘mutually terminate its relationship? with Oxford Village due to the ‘possible appearance of conflict? of interest, but first the company wants to do $17,254 worth of work.
Next Generation Computers is owned and operated by Tracy A. Miller, Sr., husband of village President Renee Donovan, and run from the couple’s home on Sunset Blvd. in the Oxford Lakes subdivision.
He’s been doing computer work for the village since June 2002 and since then his company has been paid a total of $185,917 as of Nov. 23, 2005.
In a Feb. 2 letter to council, Miller requested his current relationship with the village be terminated based upon a ‘recent opinion from David Gorcyca, Oakland County Prosecutor, regarding a conflict of interest? and the ‘possible appearance of conflict? in his situation.
Last month, Gorcyca informed Marc Seay, a new city councilman and firefighter for Pontiac, that he must resign one of his two positions because he’s in ‘direct violation? of Michigan’s law regarding incompatible public offices and there’s an ‘open conflict between his positions,? according to the Jan. 27 Oakland Press.
Gorcyca’s written directive was based on state attorney general opinions which say a firefighter cannot serve on the city council of the city for which he works because they are incompatible public offices.
Neither the legal opinions Gorcyca used nor the situation in Pontiac directly apply to Miller’s situation as someone being paid for services by the village while his wife sits on council. But his letter to council indicates he wants to avoid the ‘possible appearance of conflict.?
Legal opinions aside, Miller’s request to terminate his relationship with the village comes at a time when the municipality was trying to negotiate a written contract for his company’s services.
In June 2005, council voted to award a three-year, $38,485 computer services maintenance contract to Next Generation Computers over three other bidders, all of whom quoted higher prices. The first annual payment of that contract, which amounts to $12,575, was made.
However, no written contract was ever signed between the village and Miller. In December 2005, council attempted to change that.
Young said the village attorney advised them that ‘any contract over a one-year period and over $10,000 needed to be a written, two-party-signed agreement? by law.
‘At the time (June 2005), we did not know that,? Young said. ‘I wish I would have known that.?
Based on correspondences between Bunting and Miller, Donovan’s husband didn’t see a need to negotiate a written contract. ‘It is quite hard to understand the necessity of an immediate response to negotiate a contract which council renewed in 2005 for a three-year term that does not expire until the year 2008,? Miller wrote in a Jan. 14 letter. ‘Negotiation of another contract at the present time seems to be premature.?
At Tuesday night’s meeting, it was noted in a memo from Manager Joe Young that Miller was requesting $17,254 worth of additional software upgrades and computer maintenance proposals be approved before council terminated the relationship with Next Generation.
The termination would be effective after Next Generation Computers completed the work and received payment, according to the memo.
Council’s meeting agenda listed the issue of Miller’s termination before his three computer work proposals causing the termination vote to fail 2-1 with Councilman George Del Vigna voting yes, councilmen Dave Bailey and Tom Benner voting no and Donovan abstaining.
Bailey voted no because he wanted Next Generation’s three proposals to be addressed first. If that happened, he said he would be willing to reconsider the termination later in the meeting.
‘I want to consider them first before we consider the main motion,? Bailey said. ‘Not necessarily approve the other items, but at least address them first.?
‘This doesn’t make sense to me,? said village resident Chris Bishop. ‘If we have someone who is unwilling to continue with the relationship because of a conflict of interest, I am puzzled as to why this village would not do business with someone who has a retail storefront in our downtown development area and steer that business to that location where there is no conflict rather than continue to reward someone who has a conflict of interest, who had a conflict of interest at the time this contract was awarded and is now terminating the relationship based on that conflict.?
Bishop has applied for the seat of former Councilman Steve Allen, who resigned Jan. 24.
In response to Bishop, Bailey said, based on his conversations with Miller, ‘One factor is his wish to deal with these three things now is that as a professional he wants to leave the village with their computer systems in good shape. For example, one of the items is cleaning, simple cleaning, which has not been done as I understand for more than six months.?
‘He doesn’t want to leave our computer system in a mess, as a conscientious professional he doesn’t want to do that,? Bailey explained.
As a professional, Bishop said he ‘can respect that,? but ‘I myself own many computers that run in a very dusty environment and I can assure you they’ve gone more than six months without cleaning.?
‘These look like some pretty sizeable purchases and I think this would be a great way to start a relationship with a new individual ? bring them in, give them some business at a fair competitive rate and let’s get on with this chapter in our lives,? Bishop said. ‘I’m pretty sure Next Generation Computers isn’t the only qualified computer (company) in our fine village.?
Del Vigna was adamant about wanting the three proposals to go out for bid.
‘We should go out for bids to make sure that we have the best price and the best people to do the work,? he said. ‘By law, we have to put it out to bid.?
Council voted 2-1 to set aside the three proposals until Manager Young can obtain bids for them.
Del Vigna later asked Bailey if he would now be willing to reconsider Next Generation’s termination.
‘I wanted to revisit (the termination) after we addressed the issue. We have not addressed the issue, we’ve set it aside,? Bailey said. ‘I don’t think it’s addressing it, I think it’s dodging the issue. Setting it aside is a common tactic used in these meetings to dodge an issue … I wanted to address these for real.?
During council comments, Donovan defended Next Generation and her husband’s company’s relationship with the village. ‘There is only a perceived conflict and this is a very difficult situation, but it is only a perceived conflict,? she said. ‘Every possible rule that has been followed or been in place relating to Next Generation has been followed.?
‘Professional services do not require a sealed bid and the administration went out for sealed bids (concerning the computer contract),? Donovan noted.
?(Next Generation) was assured by the village clerk and the village administration that there was no conflict of interest and all procedures were followed appropriately according to the charter,? Donovan said.
However, later she noted she came across some provisions in the village charter which were ‘possibly not handled appropriately, but not on the council’s side, on the administration’s side.?
Donovan also defended Next Generation as an out-of-home business. ‘There are many, many, many businesses in this village that are not storefront businesses, that are extremely legitimate businesses and are allowed under the charter,? she said. ‘Just because someone isn’t a storefront doesn’t mean they’re not a legitimate business and they’re not an asset to the community.?
Bishop clarified he never stated or inferred that Next Generation Computers was not a legitimate business.