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North Florida Broadband Authority: Woe begotten Stimulus funded authority gets another black eye. No one bids to service the $30 mil 14 county network.

The saga of the woe begotten $30 mil Obama stimulus funded North Florida Broadband Authority continued last Thursday morning, September 27, 2012, when no one bid to service the wireless broadband network. The NFBA spans 14 north central Florida counties. Inept management; a federal government mandated shutdown due to charges of waste, fraud, and abuse; a federal investigation, which has ended up under the carpet; outrageous salaries and non competitive hiring and procurements; and a bankrupt business partner have sent the signal far and wide that the North Florida Broadband Authority is not a government business you want to do business with.

This part of the story begins here:
April 10, 2012, pre bid meeting for Network Operator

In order to bid for the Network Operator contract, the NFBA held a mandatory pre bid meeting on April 10, 2012. This meeting was attended by seven potential bidders.

A Network Operator is who one calls when one has internet trouble. The Network Operator, according to the bid packet, was to provide both a Network Operations Center and Field Service Maintenance. A combined bid was required for both components.

Shortly after the pre bid meeting, the NFBA posted on its website the sign in sheet. Mysteriously, it disappeared  soon thereafter. The reason why would soon be clear.

The proposals were originally due at NFBA headquarters in Lake City on April 26, 2012. This date was extended to May 17th.

A bidder receives a mysterious e mail from the NFBA

On May 8, 2012, nine days before the bids were due, the NFBA's Project Manager, Donny Lort, e-mailed Mainstreet Broadband's CEO, Mike Mies, giving him JOYTEL's contact information. The e-mail stated the following:

Mike, I have included all the information for Mark
[M]marques and included him on this e-mail string. I think the two of you should get together and see if there are opportunities for the both of you going forward.  Please feel free to contact Mark directly. Thanks, Donny

Two of the bidders, INOC and Mainstreet, were teaming up: Who knew?

On June 8, 2012, NFBA General Manager, Richelle Sucara, announced that two firms responded to the RFP. They were JOYTEL and INOC. Then she added that Mainstreet Broadband (MSB) partnered with INOC. MSB attended the Pre Bid Conference as an independent bidder.

INOC was to supply the Operations Center and MSB the Field Services. It is not clear who at the NFBA knew about this arrangement, or if Federal Government knew this was in the works and gave this deal its approval. MSB was about to default on a 34 million dollar Stimulus RUS loan.

INOC/MSB came in $619,000 less that the other bidder, JOYTEL.

JOYTEL protests the bid

On June 18, 2012, JOYTEL's CEO, Mark Marques protested the bid. In a letter to the NFBA, Mr. Marques began: JOYTEL would like to protest the RFP for network operator. It has come to our attention that one of the selected contractors of the RFP clearly violates a conflict of interest in your RFP and NTIA NOFA rules.

Mr. Marques concluded:  NFBA clearly violated its own conflict of interest agreement in attachment H. The selection of this contractor also violates the BTOP NOFA guidelines for contractors. (Read the JOYTEL letter here).

On or about July 10, 2012, according to Mr. Marques, JOYTEL was blown off by the NFBA's outside contractor Cynthia Schultz, who among other things said the NFBA did no wrong.

Cynthia Schultz appears to be the NFBA's Federal Compliance and Telecommunications consultant. This was done as sole source procurement. None of the criteria for sole source procurement was met. Cynthia Schultz is not exempt because she is an attorney, because these are not legal representation services. Additionally, Cynthia Schultz is not licensed to practice law in Florida and cannot represent the NFBA or any of its employees when it comes to Florida procurement law.

This was memorialized in a letter to JOYTEL's attorney on July 18th, where the NFBA's Sucara said the NFBA did no wrong.

On July 24th, at 8 pm, General Manager Sucara had a sudden change of heart and sent an e mail to INOC and others advising them that, "The NFBA intends to issue a separate RFP for field services at a later date... I would request that you notify MSB of this decision."

INOC was given the chance to bid on and negotiate the Network Operations Center (NOC) proposal without the Field Service component. JOYTEL was never given the same opportunity.

On August 1st, the NFBA Board, mostly oblivious to what went on between the parties, approved INOC as the Network Operator.

Here they go again: the new Request for Bids for Network Field Services

On September 6, 2012, the NFBA put out a request for bids for Field Services. The bids were due on September 27th at 10 am and the scheduled opening was one hour later at 11 am.

Your reporter arrived at the NFBA offices a few minutes before 11. No one was in the office except the NFBA Clerk, Faith Doyle, who greeted the Observer with a quizzical look.

The Observer said, "I'm here for the bid opening this morning."

Ms. Doyle answered, "There is no bid opening."

The Observer, "It's scheduled for 11 am."

Ms. Doyle, "There were no bids."

On the way out of the building the Observer stopped in the Project Management Office, which was just down the hall.

After a few moments the Observer was greeted by former GSG employee and the NFBA's $88,000 plus Project Manager, Donny Lort.

When the Observer mentioned that he was there for the bid opening, Mr. Lort did not divulge that there were no bids. Instead he told the Observer, "Bid openings are not public. They are not for citizens."

Epilogue

It is time the someone from the Federal Government stepped in and put a stop to this train wreck. It is clear that the NFBA, while it may have been well intentioned at one time, has lost the confidence of not only many local governments, but also an entire industry that has chosen not to service this fourteen county wireless network.

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Links to the NFBA series:

North Florida Broadband Authority:
Baker County becomes the 7th north central Florida county to pull out of Obama stimulus funded NFBA

(Part XXXVII) (February 19, 2013)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Feds put failing stimulus funded NFBA on life support. 3yrs and $28+ mil later, 60 customers and no revenue model.
(Part XXXVI) (February 15, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Former Board Clerk sues NFBA for wrongful termination and violation of her constitutional rights
(Part XXXV) (January 30, 2013)

North Florida Broadband Authority: $30 mil later N. Central Florida Regional Planning Council - clueless
(Part XXXIV) (January 25, 2013)

North Florida Broadband Authority: After General Counsel's response, FL's Public Record Laws remain the latest casualty
(Part XXXIII (b)) (January 8, 2013)

• North Florida Broadband Authority: FL's Public Record Laws the latest casualty
(Part XXXIII) (January 6, 2013)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Foot dragging, lack of info cause Suwannee Cnty to call "strike 3" on the NFBA – They're out
(Part XXXII) (January 3, 2013)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Suwannee County tells the NFBA – One more strike and you're out
(PartXXXI) (December 20, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Wracked by gross mismanagement from the feds on down, the NFBA has become the poster child for non disclosure
(Part XXX) (December 18, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: More bad news. Last Mile Wifi CEO, "I knew they were going to extort me."
(Part XXIX) December 10, 2012

North Florida Broadband Authority: NFBA failed to make the grade in Gilchrist County
(Part XXVIII) (November 29, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Columbia County Pulls Out of Obama Funded Stimulus Project
(Part XXVII) (November 2, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: The NFBA road show traveled to an unprepared Columbia County with misinformation, half truths, and just plain lies
(Part XXVI) (Posted October 9, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Woebegotten Stimulus funded authority gets another black eye. No one bids to service the $30 mil 14 county network.
(Part XXV) (Posted October 1, 2012)

• North Florida Broadband Auth: Another County pulls out. Dixie says throwing away money a major issue.
(Part XXIV) (Posted September 13, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: NFBA road shows moves to Lake City for a double dose of free money
(Part XXIII) (Posted September 5, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Secrecy and a lawyer's spread sheet. It's business as usual at the NFBA.
(Part XXII) (Posted August 22, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority:  Mainstreet Broadband, NFBA's touted business partner, goes bust
(Part XXI) (Posted August 2, 2012)

• North Florida Broadband Authority: Two cities say "no mas." Refuse free tower space to NFBA
(Part XX)  (Posted July 26, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Taylor County Says Goodbye, "I don't think our county should be involved."
(Part XIX) (Posted April 18, 2012)

• North Florida Broadband Authority: Perry Pulls Out, City Manager tells Council, "It's just out of whack"
(Part XVIII) (Posted April 11, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Bradford County Says "No Mas" – Pulls Out
(Part XVII) (Posted April 4, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Operating in the shadows with the help of the Feds, the NFBA saga continues
(Part XVI) (posted March 29, 2012)

Lake City, City Manager Wendell Johnson looks to make White Elephant deal with troubled North Florida Broadband Authority
(Part XV) (Posted Feb 28, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Propped up by the Feds, financed by the American People - Who can you trust?
(Part XIV) (Posted Feb 25, 2012)

North Florida Broadband Authority:
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Not for them

(Part XIII) (Posted Jan 13, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority:
A Lawyer's Dream. A Look At The Numbers
(Part XIIb) (Posted Dec 29, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority:
A Lawyer's Dream. Money Is No Object
(Part XIIa) (Posted Dec 28, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority:
Feds come to town – Working under the cover of darkness was their MO

(Part XI) (Posted November 23, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority:
Feds continue investigation - Interim GM rehires resigned firms employees

(part X) (Posted Nov 11, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority: "The greatest threat to this project is the Government"
(Part IX) (Posted November 2, 2011)

• Federal grant for broadband access in rural Louisiana rescinded: Could the North Florida Broadband Authority Be Far Behind?
(Posted October 28, 2011)

• North Florida Broadband Authority: Redefining "Good Business Sense?"
(Part VIII) (Posted October 25, 2011)

• North Florida Broadband Authority: Feds resume funding – Put small vendors first
(Part VII) (Posted October 20, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Small vendors in big trouble | NFEDP/FSU's Hendry may resign (Part VIb)  (Posted Oct 14, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority: Blood in the street (Part VIa)  (posted Oct 13, 2011)

North Florida Broadband Authority: "I don't want to die on principle and not have broadband." (Part V)  (posted Oct. 6, 2011)

NFBA future in limbo - Fed keeps funds locked down - Suspend project  (Part IV) (posted Sept 28, 2011)

The North Florida Broadband Authority. Its world was about to change (part III)  (posted Sept 16, 2011)

"I think we have a failure to communicate." The N Florida Rural Broadband saga continues (Part II)  (posted Sept 14, 2011)

Feds close spigot on $30 million broadband stimulus grant. 15 north central Florida counties waiting for money to flow again
(Part I)  (posted Sept 12, 2011)