Sandy Loy attended the Knox County Audit Committee meeting in March 2012 for the release of the Hardin Valley Audit. Sandy authored more than 36 weeks of articles for a Knoxville area weekly newspaper concerning the Public Building Authority.
By Sandy Loy CCM
Two years ago I wrote an article about the PBA awarding no-bid contracts…it started like
this…think The Twilight Zone opening:
“Sandy Loy was a regular guy, born and raised in Tennessee. A Father, Grandfather…businessman;
one routine day in his world of concrete and steel he became aware of an organization called…
The Public Building Authority…he learned of fiscal abuses beyond his wildest imagination. He was
sure this activity was due to a mere oversight, to quickly be corrected when pointed out; so he told
elected officials… nothing happened. He told them again, nothing happened. He wrote them all
letters, nothing happened. Finally he showed them the proof in black and white…that surely would
get it fixed.
Some elected officials asked about this proof showing millions of dollars in wasteful practices
performed under the protective cover of something called “statutory authority”; which had been
bestowed upon this organization known as… the PBA. He heard mentions of audits and task forces,
his hope began to be bolstered. Then officials’ calls began to talk of explanations, rationalization…
evolving into more questions. The PBA Director had explained these anomalies away…they were all
explainable…that magic word “complicated” was once again in the conversation. Just when Sandy
thought he was about to reach a plateau of reason and common sense…he realized…he was in… “The
PBA Zone.””
I closed that article with this: “If the evidence I have disclosed (www.focuspublicrecords.com) here
doesn’t invoke change; we have bigger problems than fiscal waste.”
Bigger problems indeed…problems far beyond fiscal waste indeed…it is the impact on lives due
to fiscal waste that is so tragic. We recently learned that fiscal waste thru no-bid contracts has not
only affected whether your child has a new school book or a new desk or school…but whether they
are safe in those schools!
Recently, politicians (who in 2011 didn’t want to hear the facts or the truth about PBA handing
out non-bid contracts) have been quoted stating their shock and surprise at the shortcomings
in work performed by a security contractor awarded a contract by the PBA without competitive
bids…REALLY?
Security system failures performed under contracts awarded without bids, fueled by nepotism,
have put your children at greater risk…this should not surprise anyone. The very commissioners who
have acted so shocked by these revelations are also the ones who didn’t address the PBA issue when
the evidence was presented to them in 2010-11.
Commissioners Amy Broyles, Mike Brown and Ed Shouse all recently acted shocked that someone
would use the PBA to direct a contract to their son-in-law’s company. REALLY? Shocked that that
company would not perform the work satisfactorily, REALLY? Broyles and Shouse were on the audit
committee who sat and listened to Richard Walls walked them thru the PBA audit report…it was
more like a magician show than an audit report. See the rabbit? Now you don’t! See the evidence of
waste? Now you don’t!
The PBA ducks any responsibility for the poor workmanship of the security company by saying
they “aren’t security experts” so they can’t be held accountable. If the PBA doesn’t have expertise
in administering or managing security contracts then why were they used to issue such a contract?
Why wasn’t the contract issued by the County or the School System, since they have security experts
according to Dr. McIntyre?
Could it be that had the School System issued the contract they would have legally been required
to follow County procurement code and legitimate bids would have been taken? If you were a School
System employee who wanted your son-in-law’s company to get a contract…why run it through the
County procurement process, eliminating your ability to control who will win the bid when you can
run it through PBA and make sure the contract goes to who you want? Isn’t having that as an option
just a little too tempting? Not to mention convenient. This is a perfect example of why the PBA Act
needs to be reformed? Because that Act is the statutory authority which allows a PBA to issue
contracts without any due diligence or transparency, LEGALLY!
Two years ago, my putting the light on this technical loop hole wasn’t enough for the people you
elected to watch out for your interest and make a change. They were told loud and clear this was
what was going on! They saw the proof…what was their position? Is this really a problem? It is only a
few people who are concerned….nothing to see here! … Move along! …too many people didn’t want
the law changed because they are getting rich operating under it.
The reality is humans are just that…human…capable of being tempted and making bad decisions
when it comes to spending other people’s money. When you put humans in a culture fraught with
opportunity for nepotism, cronyism and fraud to be implemented LEGALLY…guess what you get?
What if there were no PBA Act allowing for such non-compete contracts? Steve Griffin wouldn’t
have been able to make a threat to the PBA to use a certain company…PBA would have not had that
capability! They could have said…”This “company” you want to use can bid the contract like everyone
else, we will help you specify what the scope of work is, we will open the bids in public and the lowest
bid will win the contract, just as the County Procurement Code requires.”
Instead the PBA knowing that they can award contracts in whatever manner they deem fit, as
did Steve Griffin, were solicited to hand a contract to a public employee’s choice. Whatever the
reason was…we now know it wasn’t a very valid reason don’t we. The proof is in the pudding.
Dale Smith told the County Commission 3 years ago that I was misinformed…that PBA, as a matter
of policy, bid every contract it awards. We now know, once again, that this was a false statement
then as it is now. Apparently Mr. Smith was the one who was misinformed about what his own
The point is, this issue matters! When public money is spent without transparency it creates
a culture ripe with opportunity for waste and fraud at the least and endangering lives at the
worst. Because when specifications aren’t complete the work isn’t complete…when contractors
aren’t evaluated on a level playing field bad things happen. When it comes to schools…bad things
happening place our children in harm’s way.
We expect schools to be designed with protecting our children as a top priority…halls should be
laid out so teachers can view as many children as possible from one spot…areas are segregated and
secured to control who has access to what areas.
What happens when a masonry contractor uses inferior concrete blocks and a TV falls off the
wall? What happens when cameras aren’t working or are pointed at the back of a column? What
happens when access to inside a school is compromised by security pads being mounted on a wall
but not attached to the door lock? Maybe the TV only hits the floor…maybe it hits a student. Maybe
nothing happens which a properly mounted camera could have recorded or exposed in time to
allow someone to stop. Maybe no one ever tries to get in the door with an AR-15 to shoot innocent
children. But then again maybe they do.
So when your elected officials act surprised when one of these tragic events happen and someone
is hurt or killed…ask them where were they when they were told in 2009, 2010 and 2011 that PBA
was being used to hand out contracts without bids and specifications? Why weren’t they concerned
then that lack of oversight could result in your children being put in harm’s way? Why did they
continue to accept “internal audits”, clearing the PBA…when they already knew the PBA could legally
do whatever they want? They knew the PBA had been abusing their “statutory authority”!
We don’t need audits to tell us that issuing no-bid contracts through the PBA is a dangerous way
to do business….we need politicians with the backbone and integrity to DO SOMETHING to FIX IT!
Pass a resolution stopping PBA from implementing their statutory authority in Knox County
to do anything not allowed by Knox County procurement Code. Why are so many people afraid of
that? We now know why! Because they good ole boys like using the PBA to hand contracts to their
buddies…legally…and the result is not just a waste of your tax dollars but inferior work which puts
our children in danger.
Parents…where is your indignation and anger? How long are you going to take this sitting
down? I said it in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and I will say again now… “If the evidence I have disclosed
(www.focuspublicrecords.com) here doesn’t invoke change, we have bigger problems than fiscal waste.”
Mr. Loy is President of Construction Plus Inc. He can be reached at sloy@constructionplus.com
