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BY BILL DOLAN
bdolan@nwitimes.com
219.662.5328 | Sunday, May 25, 2008 | (6 comment(s))
CROWN POINT | Workers still were feeding floppy disks into Commodore 64 personal computers and the Internet was just a rumor in 1992, the year Lake County officials hired Cenifax Management Services as its data processor.
But as Lake County is poised to continue the no-bid contract with Cenifax, a 2007 Good Government Initiative study would have county officials look elsewhere for computer services.
The Lake County Council approved a contract extension with Cenifax earlier this month, and county commissioners now must give the deal a final stamp of approval.
Mark Pearman, executive director of Cenifax, said, "We have survived because we are professional and do a good job." He said the company deserves the council-approved contract extension, worth $1.9 million for the next four years.
But critics of the proposal contend Cenifax has thrived in the absence of competitive bidding.
The 2007 Good Government study recommended the county "seek new proposals for a contract service provider to test both the price competition as well as service delivery capacity of the open market."
Though Lake County Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, voted to extend the contract, he said he does see wisdom in opening it up for competitive bidding.
"I have nothing against Cenifax," Blanchard said. "But if we put it up for competitive bidding, we could save some money. It gives everyone a chance to resharpen their pencils."
Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez, whose department is a heavy user of information technology, agrees.
"I say put it up for bid and see what others have to offer," the sheriff said. "The numbers of vendors and services have increased over the years."
However, the county data board, almost all elected county officials using Cenifax and the Lake County Council, which controls county government's purse strings, endorsed Cenifax retention.
"I spoke with a couple of officials to get a feel with whether they were happy with the services, and no one had any complaints," Council President Christine Cid said.
Lake County Commissioner Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, who will be asked to vote on the matter in the near future, said, "Competitive bidding is a good idea, but they do a good job. And I can imagine turning everything over to a new company could be disruptive at a bad time for us."
Lake County Commissioner Roosevelt Allen, D-Gary, said he has mixed feelings about renewing the contract.
"I know right now the county is in flux with new taxation laws," Allen said. "I realize they don't want a disruption in the system software and billing. ... I do feel at some point there should be competitive bidding."
Pearman said Friday that county government is Cenifax's only customer at present, and competitive bidding would be a challenge. But he is willing to face it if necessary.
"We brought the county out of the dark ages," Pearman said. "The Good Government study didn't show we have an online docket for all the town and city courts or the county's courts data on the Internet, something no one else in the state has to our degree."
Cenifax is a Munster corporation that lists John Maniotes and Timothy Raykovich as its principals, according to the Indiana Secretary of State's Web site. Raykovich was a top aide in the administration of former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick.
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Joe wrote on May 25, 2008 10:33 PM:
Curious George wrote on May 25, 2008 4:15 PM:
Hammond Tax Payer wrote on May 25, 2008 1:00 PM:
To me; it seems to be a no-brainer.
I vote yes for competitive bidding
"
John M. wrote on May 25, 2008 12:20 PM:
Enough is Enough wrote on May 25, 2008 10:20 AM:
Just Ducky wrote on May 25, 2008 8:57 AM:
Put the good government study to good use. Technology has advanced so far, that there is no excuse not to have an online docket for all the town and city courts, or the county's courts data - and transferring that data to a competitive bidder - is not a problem.
Time to get out of the cave and give competition a chance to save money for the taxpayer. Why are you politicians so fearful of "change." You're still in the dark ages of a company you've never felt the need to see what other companies have to offer.
What have you got to lose by being fair and giving it a little competition? As far as I know...Indiana is behind the times - look how your computers spew out the tax bills/refunds... "