Jefferson Parish, like other local governments, routinely turns to the private sector to provide the range of services expected of modern government. Its contracts are as varied as translation services for courts, dental services for juvenile inmates, engineering services for drainage projects and trash hauling services to dispose of household waste. The parish is not required to award these service contracts to the lowest bidder. Instead, it can consider factors other than price.
Often, this is a sensible approach. Price is not necessarily the most important factor for selecting services that depend on technical or specialized skills. But the inclusion of non-price considerations results in a more subjective selection process – and the potential for favoritism, waste and abuse. Without a transparent and rational set of procedures, jurisdictions are sure to face serious questions over how and why contracts are awarded.
As currently constructed, Jefferson Parish’s contracting process encourages exactly these types of questions. In fact, flaws in the parish’s approach have contributed to contracting problems in recent years.
