Downtown Development District cleaning crews walk up and down Canal Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
A firm owned by businessman Troy Henry has won a multi-year contract to provide exterior cleaning services for the New Orleans downtown business area after a controversial bidding process.
The contract, which is worth around $10.4 million over four years, was awarded to Henry Consulting earlier this month by the Downtown Development District.
Henry, who recently secured the lease to redevelop the former Six Flags amusement park and also has cleaning contracts at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and the Caesars Superdome, won in a second round of bidding.
Earlier this year, the DDD’s board threw out the first round’s selection of Block by Block, a Louisville, Kentucky-based firm that had held the contract since 2007.
Downtown Development District cleaning crews walk up and down Canal Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
The DDD is a Louisianan state agency set up to provide additional security for a tourist and business district that runs from Iberville Street to the Pontchartrain Expressway, and from Claiborne Avenue to the Mississippi River. It is also tasked with combating graffiti and dealing with some other quality-of-life issues, as well as running a number of promotional events for the district.
It is funded by a share of taxes levied in the district and is governed by an 11-member board, eight of whom are appointed by the Mayor of New Orleans.
The DDD spent a total of about $8.2 million in 2022, with $2.6 million going to Block by Block for providing cleaning services.
In June, when DDD’s staff initially recommended renewing Block by Block’s contract, several board members objected, saying they felt Block by Block did not have sufficient representation of firms that qualified as disadvantaged businesses, according to minutes of the meeting.
They ordered a new bidding round and ultimately selected Henry Consulting from a short list of six potential contractors.
Four of the five losing bidders said they felt the process was unfair and lacked transparency.
Terrence Rice, owner of Fulcrum Enterprises, sued the DDD unsuccessfully in Orleans Parish Civil District Court to try and block the contract. He said his issue was that their scoring on factors like relevant experience, commitment to “green” practices and qualification as a disadvantaged business didn’t make sense.
“I want to make it perfectly clear: my issue is not with Henry Consulting,” Rice said.” I am glad a local company won a significant contract. My issue was with the DDD procurement process.”
Other losing firms echoed those concerns about the process.
“In the process, you could feel the weight of the thumb on the scale in favor of the eventual winner,” said Cedric Patin, owner of JC Patin Group, one of the losing bidders.
Robert Ramelli, of Ramelli Group, said he couldn’t understand the scoring system given that his firm was the lowest bidder and has been doing Mardi Gras and other cleaning services in New Orleans for decades.
“It wasn’t a fair and open process,” Ramelli said.
Davon Barbour, the DDD’s CEO, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Henry, a businessman and former mayoral candidate, said the complaints were sour grapes from the losers.
“The losers always have some reason and complaint,” he said. “If I lose a contract, I go on my way and I don’t belly-ache about it.”
Email Anthony McAuley [email protected].
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Troy Henry's firm wins downtown New Orleans clean-up contract amid gripes over bid process – NOLA.com
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