Gulf County rescinds debris-removal award after vendor protest, will re-advertise
Loading...
Summary
After a vendor filed a protest, the Gulf County Commission voted 4–1 to rescind the award for its disaster debris-removal contract (RFP 2526-04) and directed staff to re-advertise the solicitation with clarified evaluation steps; the vendor had said staff evaluators ranked it first by a 19-point margin.
Gulf County commissioners voted to rescind a recent contract award for disaster debris-removal services and ordered a new solicitation after a formal protest from a longtime contractor.
Bridal Perkins Gastillo, identifying herself as CEO and owner of Ashford (the vendor that filed the protest), told commissioners the company had been ranked first by staff evaluators by 19 points and that the commission had not been shown the committee’s ranking at the public meeting. Counsel for the company, Sandy Sanborn, said the protest aimed to correct a procedural oversight and protect a transparent procurement process.
County staff and the county attorney acknowledged an error in how the evaluation and rankings were presented. “I did not follow what the bid was,” a staff member said on the record, adding, “It’s my fault,” and urging a clean, expedited re-solicitation so the county has coverage before hurricane season.
After extended legal and procedural discussion, Commissioner Michael Moore moved to rescind the award and direct staff to re-advertise RFP 2526-04 with clarified evaluation steps and documentation to be provided to commissioners; the motion passed 4–1. Staff told the board it would aim for a roughly 30-day re-solicitation window and to return in early May with committee rankings and materials for public review.
Ashford representatives argued that re-advertising may be unnecessary because staff had rated their proposal well above competitors, but attorneys warned that leaving the prior process uncorrected risked further protests. County attorneys said rescission and a prompt, clarified rebid were the cleanest path to resolve the dispute and ensure federal reimbursement compliance in a storm year.
The board’s action rescinded the previously announced award and instructed staff to prepare a revised RFP and an explicit plan for evaluative scoring, committee recommendations and documentation to be provided in advance of the public meeting where the commission will again make the final award.
Next steps: staff will redraft and reissue the RFP, provide the evaluation materials to commissioners and the public, and return with committee recommendations and ranked scoring for the commission’s decision in a public meeting.
