From the NY Times:The city’s Department of Education plans to offer a contract renewal to a school bus company that was identified in a federal investigation as having paid bribes to school bus inspectors.
Logan Bus Company was one of nine companies identified in the investigation as having paid bribes in exchange for favorable treatment, which in some cases included overlooking safety violations and falsifying records that allowed the companies to overcharge the city.
The city takes measures to exclude companies from city contracting that have defrauded it. But the bus companies were not charged with any crimes, and prosecutors have described the owners in court as victims of an extortion plot who feared for their safety.
The department, which transports 160,000 students a day during the regular school year, decided to stay with Logan because it agreed to cost concessions and to submit to “onerous” independent monitoring, said Eric Goldstein, who is in charge of food and busing for the Department of Education.
And from the Daily News:
A City Department of Education panel yesterday held off on recommending hiring a school bus company whose owner bribed city inspectors and a mobbed-up union for years.
A panel that advises the department on hiring contractors declined to recommend hiring Logan Bus Co. the same day the Daily News revealed Logan's owner, Michael Tornabe, confessed his deeds to the FBI in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Last night the Contracts Committee of the Panel on Education Policy had enough concerns to hold off making a decision about Logan, one of 44 private companies hired to transport city students. Many of the other firms' contracts will soon expire as well.
The decision was put off until the full panel meets Thursday.
"Why didn't you put some of the contracts out for bid?" asked panel member Patrick Sullivan.
David Ross, the Education Department's director of contracts, said, "We want to bid and we intend to bid, [but] it's not realistic for us to bid the entire city at one time."
2 comments:
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.
The chassis of the bus drags on the ground, on the ground on the ground.
Never cross a bridge or you will drown, early in the morning...
it is really interesting that these reports never tell the n.y.c. taxpayer exactly what we are paying for these pupil bus rides and union benefits.
many of these pupils can walk to local elementary and middle schools. much of the busing is for" piggy back
anchor children" who occupy seats illegally out of their districts. as long as the principal has the body (with it"s $19,000.00 value) ,zoning is overlooked. as well as checking for the faked pupil residence.
n.y.c. d.o.e. yearly education revenues from your taxes are $20 BILLION DOLLARS .
THE COST FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION PUPILS IS $40,000 TO $65,000 PER PUPIL PER YEAR .
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