By Dominic Abassi

Events centre consultant claims councillor, ex-City staff ‘assured’ contracts before open bid process

Jul 31, 2018 | 5:15 PM

NANAIMO — A consultant hired by the City to help plan the ill-fated events centre project claims senior staff and a councillor promised them the contract for the work before a public bidding process was ever held.

In a statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court against the City of Nanaimo, BBB Architects alleged former chief administrative officer Tracy Samra, former chief financial officer Victor Mema and coun. Bill Bestwick “assured BBB that BBB would be selected as the successful contractor and that the public procurement process was being pursued so Nanaimo could appear to be following its…policy, even though BBB had already been chosen for the work.”

The allegations are included in a notice of civil claim seeking damages, legal costs and a little over $154,000 for work the City allegedly “refused or neglected” to pay.

The claim said BBB started working on the events centre for the City in September 2016 and continued to work at the direction of Samra, Mema and Bestwick “before the procurement process had concluded, before BBB had been selected as the successful contractor, and before being formally awarded any contract.”

After phase one was completed, BBB alleged the City did not hold a competitive public procurement process for phase two work on the events centre. Provincial trade laws mandate the City must hold a public bidding process for goods and services above $75,000. A City report from April 2017 showed BBB was paid more than $196,000 for phase two work.

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As the events centre project moved on to phase three in December 2016, BBB claimed they were told to take all steps to prepare Nanaimo for the referendum and be in a position to move quickly after approval.

“The majority of Nanaimo’s City Council was motivated to ensure the project was approved at the referendum,” the notice of claim said. “The City Council was also motivated to ensure that the project was completed on a short deadline that was dictated by the proposed MOU between the City and the Western Hockey League.”

The claim said BBB received instructions from, among others, Bestwick, Samra, and Mema to perform services related to phase three.

It said after initially telling BBB they would not be performing an open bid process for further work, the City did so in January 2017. BBB claimed it was once again assured by Samra and Mema it would be the successful contractor “as the City controlled the outcome of the procurement.”

The City’s purchasing department confirmed to NanaimoNewsNOW BBB was chosen from other bidders for the contract in early 2017. Financial statements showed BBB was paid a little more than $285,000 in total for events centre planning work.

At a Feb. 20, 2017 meeting, councillors denied a staff request in a report authored by Mema asking for $500,000 for phase three work. Instead, Council cut the budget, specifically excluding the expenses listed for BBB Architects.

BBB claimed two days later Mema contacted them and ended the contract, despite the fact BBB allegedly completed “significant services” related to phase three for the City. Mema then refused to pay invoices amounting to over $154,000 for that work, the claim said.

Weeks later, on March 11, Nanaimo voters resoundingly defeated the proposal at referendum, with only 20 per cent of votes cast in favour of borrowing $80 million for the project.

None of the claims have been proven in court and the City has not filed a response to the allegations.

When asked if he ever assured BBB a contract before a procurement process, coun. Bestwick said “Never…Seriously?”

Bestwick said he was not appointed to represent the City with regard to the events centre.

“Under no circumstances did I ever request services from BBB that were not under contract,” Bestwick said in an email. “I was not working with senior staff in any capacity outside my scope as a councillor. I was not involved in any negotiations, ever.”

Mayor Bill McKay said the allegations in the claim are “typical of the previous management we had at the City, where Council was not familiar with the details of the workings of these contracts. There was no information provided to Council on many of the items discussed in BBB’s claim.”

When asked why Council did not raise questions about the allegations made by BBB, McKay said they were getting details after the fact and the information was not discussed in the open.

“All of this information we’re seeing now was certainly behind the scenes…It’s just one of the items, as we peel back the layers of the onion, that we’re discovering,” McKay said.

The City’s purchasing department told NanaimoNewsNOW the allegations, if true, are extremely troubling and leave the City open to challenges from other bidders if they feel the process was not done fairly.

The City did not respond to questions about the civil claim specifically. BBB Architects communicated with NanaimoNewsNOW and is expected to provide written statements to questions on Wednesday.

This story will be updated.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi