Actually Chris is right. Unless a council member has a special interest in this (as Steve Minn did on the former council), staff is responsible for RFP's. So staff does tend to write the RFP's so they work for the contractors that they are most familiar with or like to deal with. The past council actually made our garbage collectors offer a living wage as part of doing business with us. Like Grow, I'm concerned that we have a first term council that isn't asking some of the important questions that need to be asked. There seems to be a mentality by some of the council members that you should just let staff do their job and not question anything they do. Personally from experience I know that isn't always a great idea.
Despite all that, this council can still reject the staff choice, override their decision and select Eureka. And of course the mayor, who has said in the past he has strong environmental interests, could step in and direct staff to change their choice and/or can lobby council members to vote down that choice, thereby opening the door for the Eureka contract. Lisa McDonald East Harriet ----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Johnson Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 11:01 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Great story by Doug Grow on the Mpls Recycling Contract I, too, would like to publicly thank Doug Grow for his column on the city recycling contract. I would also like to point out that council members can vote their own minds and consciences, regardless of any threat of lawsuit by Waste Management or BFI if, as Grow writes, any discussion takes place at the council of items outside the RFP. I find it strange that the city council is being blamed for "oversights" in the RFP. City council members are unlikely to spend their time For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mplsGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
