New bid ordered in swap meet contract
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
A recently awarded contract to manage swap meet operations at Aloha Stadium has been rescinded and will be put out to bid again.
The contract is a major source of revenue and a regular source of controversy for state officials who run the stadium.
A procurement committee for the Aloha Stadium Authority recently awarded the new management contract to the current operator, Consolidated Amusement Co., but the decision was rescinded after another bidder protested, officials said this week.
In the meantime, Consolidated's current contract — awarded amid considerable controversy in 1999 — will be extended to June of next year, according to Stadium Authority chairman Anthony Guerrero.
Problems with the award of the management contract will be discussed at a meeting of the Stadium Authority this morning.
Guerrero said questions were raised about why the procurement committee selected Consolidated for the new contract when the company's bid more than doubled its management fee, from the current 12 percent of revenues to 25 percent, and offered $300,000 less in revenue to the state than another bidder.
Guerrero said the procurement committee, made up of two stadium representatives, two state procurement personnel and one outside member, used selection criteria that included other factors besides price — including management experience — in awarding the new contract to Consolidated.
The protest from a competing bidder led to a decision to cancel the new contract and turn the contracting award process over to the Office of State Procurement, he said.
Consolidated spokeswoman Eileen Mortenson confirmed that the new contract award has been canceled and will be re-bid but would not comment further.
Chief Procurement Officer Aaron Fujioka said he's waiting for a request from the Stadium Authority to redraft and reissue the contract selection paperwork.
Aloha Flea Market operator Edward Medeiros, who had run the three-times-a-week stadium swap meet for 20 years, did not bid on the 1999 contract.
Instead, he sued the state, alleging that his contract wasn't renewed because he supported candidate Linda Lingle's unsuccessful 1998 Republican gubernatorial campaign. Without admitting wrongdoing, the state paid Medeiros $295,000 to settle that suit and another related legal dispute.
Stadium Authority personnel have since said that swap meet revenues to the state under Consolidated's operation were more than $1 million more than under Medeiros.
Consolidated's 1999 contract was for one year, with an option to extend for two years. That option was exercised, and the contract was supposed to expire in September 2003. It was extended three months, and now will be extended another six months, officials said.
Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.
