Reporting is often routine stuff, checking the regular information “traps” to see what’s there. Sometimes nothing. Sometimes little hints. Sometimes a story.

You never know what you’re going to find in the latest requests from state agencies to exempt contracts from competitive bidding. Blockbusters are few, but there are usually some useful glimpses of what’s going on behind the scenes.

You can find these on the State Procurement Office website. I usually start with the “CPO Exemptions from Chapter 103D” link towards the bottom of the list.

There’s a pending request for a $10,000 extension in the Tax Department’s contract with former HPD detective Dan Hanagami, now a private investigator. Hanagami’s contract is part of the ongoing “administrative investigations involving Department employees who may have violated the Department’s internal use policy.”

Then there’s a request from the Attorney General for an additional $500,000 for attorney Kenneth S. Robbins, who is the principal attorney representing the Department of Education in the case of Mark H., et al., v. Hamamoto, et. al. The case has been up and down on appeal. The total cost to date isn’t noted in this half-million dollar extension.

The State Procurement Office recently turned down a request from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to exempt a $30,000 contract with local computer company, Data House, to “transfer, customize and implement the electronic leave record system currently installed.”

Interesting comment from the SPO:

This request is disapproved as it lacks sufficient justification and SPO staffs request for additional information have remained unanswered.[emphasis added]

SPO also turned down a request from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to dole out $500,000 in grants to beneficiary organizations using a “request for proposals” approach. The department even went through the expense of developing a grant manual “explaining the procurement process in detail” without checking whether it was legal. The SPO comment: “This request is disapproved as it lacks sufficient justification….”

The basement offices of the Dept. of Health’s Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention Branch was flooded during heavy rain in early March, reporting two inches of standing water on the carpeted floor throughout much of the 3,000 square foot office.

The flooding has a negative impact on the structural and internal walls, flooring, file/record cabinets, furniture, and computer equipment in the space and has rendered a majority of the space unusable by employees for performance of their state duties.

The cost of extracting the water and drying carpet and walls on an emergency basis was estimated at $8,000.

If you haven’t tried this, it is also interesting to browse the awards for “professional services.” These include the contracts awarded on a relatively subjective basis rather than direct competitive bidding. The contracts for architects and engineers, so often at the center of “pay to play” allegations, fall within this category.

The SPO system lets the public search by agency or by contractor. Try the Attorney General, Land & Natural Resources, B&F, etc. Watch for favorite contractors.

But not all agencies have contracts listed here.

For example, search for the House of Representatives or Senate, and no contracts are found. Dept. of Public Safety? Also zilch. I can’t tell if this really means they do not award any contracts for professional services, or perhaps their values are too low for this system?

In any case, have fun browsing, and post any nuggets of info back here.