WisPolitics Courtwatch Blog

Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy today dismissed a lawsuit filed by a developer who claimed it was cheated out of the $55 million Kenilworth dormitory project at the UW-Milwaukee.

Malloy conceded that the bidding process seemed to be "irregular" but said the developer should have sought an injunction before construction began. He said because the contract had already been awarded and construction had begun, there was no relief the court could offer them based on current case law.

A lawyer for the plaintiff said he first would ask the judge to reconsider before pursuing an appeal.

See more background here.

Labels: Prism

An Ozaukee Court has no authority to award damages in a lawsuit brought by a developer who claims it was cheated out of the $55 million Kennilworth dormitory project at the UW-Milwaukee after the project, according to a filing by the state.

Assistant Attorney General Richard Braun, representing the state, argues that there are four cases that set a precedent that "public bidding statutes are only for the benefit and protection of the public," making the lawsuit by developer Prism moot.

A hearing is set for 9 a.m. Sept. 21 to rule on a motion of dismissal brought by the state. Judge Paul Malloy in Ozaukee County is overseeing the case.

Prism, a three-member partnership, was originally awarded the contract in August 2003, but the project was later re-bid by the state Building Commission after another bidder raised objections to the process. A third company, Weas, was awarded the contract in March 2005 following a second bidding procedure.

The company blames former DOA Secretary and now-Doyle campaign chair Marc Marotta for engineering the re-bid, and the move came under fire because Weas executives had given donations to Doyle's campaign fund. Prism is seeking $5 million in damages.

Prism's attorney Joseph Cincotta argues the state rendered an injunction "academic" because Weas had already been awarded the contract and had begun work before Prism's last appeals were denied on June 6, 2005. Thus, the company should be awarded damages to compensate it for its losses.

See the state's reply brief in support of dismissal:http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/StateDismissReply.pdf

See the surreply filing from Prism:http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/PrismDismissSurreply.pdf

Labels: Prism

The Department of Administration is defending the contract awarded to build a dormitory project at UW-Milwaukee, releasing a time line yesterday and saying the project award didn't initially unfold on a level playing field. A top DOA official also said the process is "very different" than the procurement process that has come under fire following the conviction of former DOA employee Georgia Thompson.

The Kenilworth dorm project at UWM has become the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by a group that claims its winning proposal was tossed aside and the project re-bid because it "was not politically popular with the person who made the key decision."

Sean Dilweg, executive assistant to DOA Secretary Steven Bablitch, said the evaluation committee originally awarded the contract to Prism, but the state Building Commission rejected the award because of concerns that Prism was allowed to revise its bid late in the process.

The protest to the Prism award was raised by another bidding group, Cullen-Scion. Prism had originally introduced a mix that was part dormitory, part private apartments.

"After the proposals came in, Prism said they couldn't swing the financing, so they were allowed to change their mix," he said. The project was ultimately awarded to Weas Development, who proposed a dorm-condominium mixed use.

"I think the RFP process has to be a level playing field, and this appears it was not a level playing field," Dilweg said of the first round. "It was decided the only resolution was to have another RFP process where Prism had a chance to re-bid, as did the others."

Dilweg said this process was "very different than the standard procurement process," citing the bipartisan Building Commission, which has the ultimate authority to greenlight the project. The Building Commission approved Weas unanimously, Dilweg points out.

In the standard procurement process, contracts are awarded by an evaluation committee with no oversight from the Building Commission. The commission has authority over all matters involving the buying, selling, leasing or construction of state buildings.

'I think Prism has done a fair job of continuing the case," he said. "They've ramped up their PR machine, and that's their prerogative."

Labels: Prism

In a civil case filed against the Department of Administration, a partnership formed to bid on UW-Milwaukee's Kenilworth Building project is seeking close to $5 million in damages, according to one of the principals in the case.

Prism claims it was the rightful winners of the bid process for the project, but its winning bid was tossed aside and the project re-bid because Prism "was not politically popular with the person who made the key decision."

Weas Development was ultimately selected for the project. Ken Nelson, a member of the Prism consortium, said it is seeking "in the ballpark of $5 million" from the suit, which was filed last July.

Originally, Prism was put together in 2002 by Curt Gielow, who left the group when he was elected to the state Assembly. Reached by phone today, Gielow said Prism was "gypped" out of the contract. "They stole it from us," he said."We were rightfully selected, and somebody for some reason took it away from us," Gielow said.

At the center of the controversy is former DOA Secretary Marc Marotta, who now serves as Doyle's re-election campaign chairman.

The suit alleges Marotta made the decision to re-bid the project.According to the court filing: "Prism's demise was the result of actions taken at a behind-the-scenes meeting eight days prior to the Building Commission's February 18, 2004, public hearing. In the wake of those actions, former-Secretary Marotta also apparently directed that a second ad hoc RFP process be established for Kenilworth with a new evaluation committee. Four political appointees, two of whom did not even work for the State, were placed on the evaluation committee which eventually selected Weas Development as the winning developer over runner-up Prism. As the record shows, it was former-Secretary Marotta who then considered Prism's appeal of both its abandonment and the subsequent selection of Weas."

Nelson also offers this email between a UW official and DOA official Rob Cramer to show Marotta's role in the process. The email says that the re-bid was being done per Marotta's recommendation.

Marotta was out of the office Monday and could not be reached via cell phone. Doyle's campaign said there are no plans to let go Marotta from his campaign chair position.

The state DOJ has filed motions to dismiss the suit as well as one to strike from Prism's response all evidence regarding the conduct of the RFP process, according to Nelson. A hearing is set for Aug. 4 on the motion to strike. If it is denied, then the state's motion to dismiss will be heard at a later date.The state is being represented by DOJ attorney Dick Braun.

Labels: Prism