Council to Rebid Police Uniform Contract

The Rye City Council will rebid the police uniform supply contract for the fourth time in about two months, they decided at this week’s council meeting. The last RFP brought in two bidders but the owner of New England Sportswear, the winner, was arrested for allegedly forging documents related to his bid offer a week after the council award it to him.

The Westchester County District Attorney charge New England Sportswear owner John Holmes with: 

•  Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a Class D felony; 
• and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony. Holmes has also been suspended from duty as a member of the Auxiliary Police Unit.

The charges came after the other bidder, New England Uniforms, alerted one of the clothing manufacturers that Holmes had allegedly forged their warranty.

The council voted to officially reject Holmes bid and rebid the entire project rather than just award it to the next lowest (and only other) bidder on April 17. During last week's meeting, council members discussed the appearance of a conflict of interest that Homes had with the Rye Police Department and the staff's failure to vet the warranties. Council members expressed frustration that the warranties were not properly scrutinized. 

The Council was aware when they awarded the bid that Holmes was an auxiliary police officer, but Corporation Counsel Kristen Wilson said that was not a conflict of interest because he did not benefit financially from that relationship. But at the time they awarded the bid, the council did not know Holmes actually owned the company that won, a fact that Wilson said is still not a conflict of interest. They also did not know that he worked at Rye Country Day School, where off-duty police officers work.

Police Commissioner William Connors said he did not know what Holmes’ relationship with the off-duty police and that he did not think that Holmes had any hiring authority over them. “The off-duty officers had nothing to do with the bid process,” Connors said.

The council asked him to follow up on that relationship and report back.

They also discussed the fact that none of the city staff vetted the warranties after the RFP had to be rebid three times because of missing warranties. The first bid was rejected because it did not include the manufacturer’s most current name. The second bids were rejected because both bidders alleged that the other company was not an authorized dealer of one of the manufacturers. Despite these claims, when both bidders came back the third time with warranty letters from the manufacturers, city staff did not vet those warranties.

Council member Laura Brett said that due diligence was not done in this case, which it should have been especially because the vendor was known to the city. "Due diligence should be done to make sure they are not getting preferential treatment," she said. "There should have been greater scrutiny over the warranty especially because we knew going into this the warranty was a problem." 

She added that a simple look at the manufacturer's website showed that New England Sportswear was not an authorized dealer of theirs.

"I think its kind of frustrating and embarrassing for myself and the city that those things weren't done here," Brett said. 

"Given the environment we are in now with Rye Golf club and other things, we need to have extra scrutiny," Councilwoman Julie Killian said. 

The council is expected to rebid the contract at its next meeting.