Key West contractors to get a local boost

Commissioners give initial OK to preference

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By SEAN KINNEY

skinney@keynoter.com rmccarthy@keynoter.com

Posted - Saturday, November 07, 2009 11:00 AM EST

Key West city commissioners on Wednesday hammered out three amendments to a proposed ordinance giving preference to local contractors bidding on city projects.

Sticking points in City Attorney Shawn Smith's initial proposal included what defines a "local" for contracting purposes, how a rebidding process would work and whether the actual contracting workforce should consist of local laborers and craftsmen.

All of the proposed amendments passed with a unanimous vote; Commissioner Barry Gibson was absent.

Commissioner Jimmy Weekley suggested that attaching a 30-mile radius to the definition of "local" would take in all contractors from Key West through Big Pine Key. To qualify, the business must be properly licensed for a year prior to being an eligible player in the local preference process.

This discussion came after comments from Paul Toppino, who does a lot of city work through his company, Charlie Toppino and Sons, located on Rockland Key. He argued that his company shells out $100,000 in payroll every week, 52 weeks per year, to local workers.

Contractors "should live here," he said. "Their kids should go to school here; they should pay taxes here. Take care of the guys that are here year in, year out. We're here with the good and the bad."

The second amendment, for a straight match rebid, came at the behest of Commissioner Clayton Lopez and replaced a more labor-intensive process.

In a nutshell, the ordinance said that any local bidder within 10 percent of the low non-local bid has a chance to match or beat the low non-local bid.

It was amended to read that only the lowest local bidder within 10 percent of the non-local bid has the option to match or beat.

And an amendment pitched by Commissioner Billy Wardlow requires that to be considered local, a contractor has to have at least 50 percent of its workforce comprising local workers. The applicable definition of local is tied to the 30-mile radius established earlier.

Although pleased with the amendments, Commissioner Teri Johnston, herself a contractor, pushed to have the local preference ordinance heard in a public workshop sometime before the next and final reading on Nov. 17.

"With all due respect, these guys that are out in the field bid against the big companies everyday," she said. "For us to think we've figured out all the loopholes... I don't think we could even imagine how many of them are out there. I want to get it right and make sure we have a solid ordinance with some teeth that actually helps our local contractors."

An ordinance on the Monroe County books gives a 5 percent preference to contractors based anywhere in the county. In Marathon, the city gives a 10 percent preference only to contractors based within Marathon.