Company threatens lawsuit after losing bus advertising contract in Jefferson Parish | Jefferson Parish

Jefferson Parish could face a lawsuit after a vendor that lost a contract to advertise on buses and paratransit vehicles accused the parish of a flawed bidding process.

Vector Media argued in a letter sent to parish administrators Sunday that the company chosen for the contract, Fuel Media, should have been disqualified because it did not meet the minimum requirements set forth in the parish’s request for proposals.

Vector Media also criticized the parish for revising the scores it gave to each proposal months after the initial review without providing proper notice.

The uproar marks the second time in as many months that Jefferson Parish has faced complaints about the way contracts are awarded. Earlier this year, suppliers criticized a separate tender process involving smart meters.

In its letter, Vector Media, which has held the advertising contract since 2019, urged the parish to re-tender the work, noting that “a lawsuit is looming.”

Jefferson Parish City Council member Jennifer Van Vrancken described the letter in an emailed statement as the “one-sided perspective of a vendor who is unhappy about not being selected.”

In a follow-up text, Van Vrancken said the parish attorney’s office determined the call was legal and in accordance with parish bylaws.

A spokesman for the Parish Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Cheryl Anderson, a vice president at Fuel Media, also declined to comment.

At Van Vrancken’s suggestion, the Parish Council voted at its July 10 meeting to give Fuel Media, a Tallahassee-based company, the opportunity to negotiate the contract. The contract is one of the few revenue-generating agreements available to Jefferson Parish.

In its letter, however, Vector Media argued that Fuel Media should have been excluded from consideration. It pointed to the parish’s request for proposals, which required vendors to provide at least three references for customers for whom they provide “an equal or greater scope of services” than Jefferson Parish.

According to Vector, none of the references cited by Fuel have a fleet comparable to that of Jefferson Parish, which has 44 fixed-route buses and 17 paratransit vehicles.

Vector Media also had issues with the parish’s process for scoring the proposals. When the parish evaluation committee met in April to score the proposals, Vector Media came out on top. Fuel Media, meanwhile, received so few points that the parish council could not legally consider it.

However, in June, the parish public prosecutor’s office revised these scores after Van Vrancken noticed an error in the way they were calculated.

Fuel Media had received a lower score on its fee proposal, even though it offered a guaranteed payment of $20,833.33 per month compared to Vector Media’s $11,470. The Parish Attorney’s office described the error as an “administrative error.”

Thanks to the new scores, which were sent to the city council, Fuel Media qualified for the contract. However, the total score was still lower than that of Vector Media.

However, Vector Media says it was never informed of the change in scores.

Jefferson Parish, by ordinance, allows vendors to file a formal protest within 48 hours of the evaluation committee meeting. Vector Media said the parish should have at least reopened the protest window after updating the scores.

Vector Media’s letter states that the company does not believe the review committee “appropriately assessed Fuel’s financial profile or its ability to meet its proposed financial obligations.” It included a December legal document in which the city of Toledo accused Fuel Media of not reporting the revenue as required.

Van Vrancken said her choice of Fuel Media for the contract was based on the fact that the company offered a higher guaranteed monthly payment.

The City Council is expected to vote on a final contract with Fuel Media during its annual meeting in Grand Isle on Wednesday, but Van Vrancken said the issue will likely be postponed.