[FONT=Verdana]Baltimore's Board of Estimates awarded a $4 million contract for the Uplands redevelopment to a firm whose bid did not meet city women- and minority-owned business guidelines, passing over two firms that followed the city's policies and causing some elected leaders to ask whether the decision compromises the honesty of Baltimore's bidding process.

"It changes the rules," said City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt. "It appears that we don't want to give it to the person who followed all the rules. I think it speaks to the lack of integrity in the city."

City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake concurred, saying she worried that yesterday's vote set a precedent that others would use to circumvent guidelines aimed at benefiting women- and minority-owned businesses.

The board voted yesterday to give demolition work on the Southwest Baltimore project to the low bidder, P&J Contracting Co. But the problem is that one of the subcontractors P&J proposes using for hauling debris, MR Hopkins Transportation Co., is not certified by the city's minority- and women-owned business program to do that kind of work.
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[FONT=Verdana]The award is contingent [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]on the subcontractor coming into compliance with city rules in the next 10 days. Robert Dashiell, an attorney for P&J, cast the controversy as a minor flap over paperwork, saying that the subcontractor merely needs to update its certification with the city. He said he's optimistic that will happen and demolition will begin within two weeks.

Six other companies bid to do work on all or portions of the project. The city found that only two complied with city bid specifications. One of them, K&K Adams Inc., initially protested the award, but the company withdrew its objection when it became clear that its efforts might call into question the overall integrity of the city's minority business program.

The other company that met the specifications, Potts & Callahan Inc., offered a much higher bid for the work - estimating it would cost $7.2 million. That firm didn't contest yesterday's award, though both Rawlings-Blake and Pratt said a protest from the company would have been difficult to overcome.

A third company, the Berg Corp., sent officers to testify against the award, saying that the compliance issues should disqualify P&J. "There have been plenty of bids thrown out for these kinds of MBE [Minority Business Enterprise] violations," said their attorney, former city solicitor Neal M. Janey Sr. But that company also had other compliance problems of its own.[/FONT]