Jackson, of Discount, questioned how Visum and Apache could come through on their bids: "How are you guys going to handle a proposer that's overbid and cannot handle the service levels at Sky Harbor?" he asked the council members.
Councilwoman Peggy Neely almost chopped Jackson's head off.
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She asked Discount if it had bid $11,305 per cab. Yes, Jackson said, it had.
"That's only a $7,000 difference then. Thank you," she snapped. Never mind that $7,000 per cab, in a fleet of 20, is a huge difference: $140,000 annually could certainly make or a break a small company in this economy.
Ultimately, Neely had nothing but praise for the staff members who put the RFP together.
"Kudos," Neely told the staff. "I know you've been dealing with these issues for years. You've brought this down and done an excellent job."
"I think you guys have done an excellent job," Councilman Michael Johnson agreed. The committee sent the list of three winning bids on to the full council with a unanimous vote.
I found myself marveling at that vote as I stood in the parking lot of the UPS Store last week, trying in vain to find the corporate office for Visum Investments.
There are plenty of questions the council needs to be asking here. Just who is behind Visum Investments? How do they know the guys from Apache Taxi? Does Apache's owner really not get along with AAA? And what's going to happen if — shock of shockers — Visum can't manage to come through on its bid? In that case, does AAA pick up the slack — or does the city admit it failed and start things over?
Call me a cynic, but I'm not ready to give "kudos" to the airport staff just yet. Until I see an actual fleet of Visum and Apache taxis ready to handle airport travelers, and not just 180 cabs from AAA, I'm going to reserve my judgment.
