Competition Matters

In October 2011, a Nor’easter deposited an enormous and crippling snowfall across much of the East Coast. Now, two years later, the Connecticut Attorney General has filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging three snow removal companies engaged in an illegal boycott and bid-rigging conspiracy that caused Southbury, Conn., and its taxpayers to pay too much to make the town’s roads safe and passable during that extreme weather event.

Our first issue of Competition Matters in August described Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Partnership for Competitive Purchasing, a program designed to take a proactive approach to bid-rigging detection. The partnership is a voluntary program open to all Ohio public entities — from township governments to state agencies and small school districts to public universities. The Attorney General’s Antitrust Section staff periodically select one registered public entity and provide an on-site review of the bid records for one or more products or services purchased by that entity.

We encourage you to suggest a topic for or ask a question of the legal staff of the Ohio Attorney General’s Antitrust Section. Questions will be addressed in future issues of Competition Matters. (No individuals’ or organizations’ names will be published.) Please submit your questions or suggested topics to Karen Pierson at Karen.Pierson@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.

Even the most diligent and astute public purchasing official has little chance of detecting bid-rigging and other forms of collusive agreements because perpetrators can be so adept at concealing them. One weapon to make public purchasers less susceptible is Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Partnership for Competitive Purchasing, a voluntary program for which any public entity in Ohio can register.

Bid-Rigging Scheme Affects Mobile Radio Purchases
 
Gatt Communications Inc., a vendor of commercial land mobile radios, has admitted to participating in a bid-rigging scheme that affected New York state and city agencies from 2005 to 2007.

The Ohio Department of Administrative Services’ Cooperative Purchasing Program offers Ohio counties, townships, municipalities, school districts, public libraries, regional park districts, and other political subdivisions the benefits and cost-savings of buying goods and services through state contracts.

Bid-rigging, price-fixing, and other antitrust violations by unscrupulous vendors can result in significant overcharges to public entities. With a few simple steps, however, you can help discourage anticompetitive activity and increase your chances of detecting it if it occurs:

We encourage you to suggest a topic or ask a question of the legal staff of the Ohio Attorney General’s Antitrust Section. Questions will be addressed in future issues of Competition Matters. (No individuals’ or organizations’ names will be published.) Please submit your questions or suggested topics to Karen Pierson at Karen.Pierson@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.

You can tailor the topics and timing of email communications from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office by visiting www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/EmailUpdates.

Non-collusion affidavits serve some very valuable purposes, and as such, should be an integral part of every bid project file.