Hillsborough County evaluation committee gives three housing proposals identical consensus scores

Hillsborough County’s evaluation committee recorded consensus total scores of 90 for proposals from Ibis Healthcare Inc., Metropolitan Ministries Inc. and The Salvation Army during a remote meeting to review RFQ2500249 for the Community Housing Solutions project, committee members said.

The scoring will be verified and the final presentation scoring sheet and ranking provided by Tracy Edwards, the county’s senior procurement buyer, who opened the meeting and reminded participants that “the cone of silence is still in effect,” and that the meeting was being recorded and publicly noticed.

Why it matters: The committee’s scoring completes an internal step in the county procurement process for RFQ2500249. County staff must verify the committee’s consensus scores before any formal recommendation or contract award is made.

The committee, chaired by Laura Rice, manager with the Homeless and Community Services Department and project manager for the procurement, conducted round‑robin scoring across the procurement’s published categories. Committee members stated consensus category scores aloud for the record; Tracy Edwards said she would enter those numbers into the scoring spreadsheet and provide the final sheet after verification.

Each proposer’s subtotal and category breakdowns, as stated on the record, were: Ibis Healthcare Inc. (mental health care) — Organizational history and capacity: 20; Experience and qualifications: 15; Service delivery concept (staffing/operations/project quality): 10/10/5 (25 total); Site description: 10; Site visit: 15; Expanded services bonus: 5; Disadvantaged/minority/women business enterprise (DMDWBE) bonus: 0; fiscal management response: passed/accepted; total consensus score: 90. Metropolitan Ministries Inc. — Organizational history and capacity: 20; Experience and qualifications: 15; Service delivery concept (staffing/operations/project quality): 10/5/10 (25 total); Site description: 5; Site visit: 15; Expanded services bonus: 10; DMDWBE bonus: 0; fiscal management response: accepted; total consensus score: 90. The Salvation Army — Organizational history and capacity: 20; Experience and qualifications: 15; Service delivery concept (staffing/operations/project quality): 10/10/5 (25 total); Site description: 10; Site visit: 15; Expanded services bonus: 5; DMDWBE bonus: 0; fiscal management response: passed/accepted; total consensus score: 90.

Committee members reported the “fiscal management” category as a proposer response that was accepted or passed for the three proposers; that language was used on the record by Sheila (project manager) when summarizing fiscal management results. At several points committee members noted minor spreadsheet issues while verifying totals on the record; those were read back and confirmed before the meeting closed.

The meeting transcript shows committee members spoke in turn to record numeric scores only; no motions, votes, or formal awards were made. Tracy Edwards said she would verify the entered scores and provide the final ranked scoring sheet to the committee. The meeting concluded with Edwards reminding attendees that all correspondence should go through her while the cone of silence remains in effect.