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The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has cancelled a contract with Whitefish Energy to repair Puerto Rico's electrical grid. This contract was controversial because Whitefish Energy is only a two-year-old company that only employs two people. The way Whitefish Energy operates is by contracting their jobs to other companies that actually complete the project. This contract was also controversial because Whitefish Energy is based in Whitefish Montana, the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and he has several other connections to the company. While this contract was not made by Zinke, his connection to the company made the deal quite suspicious.
Do you think this deal was a sign of government corruption? Do you think Puerto Rico was right to cancel the deal?
Note: I'm sorry if this post seemed disjointed, I was very busy today and was quite tired when I wrote this. “We apologize for the inconvenience.” - if you get this you are amazing.
9 comments:
We go it Will. Thank you! This reminds me a little bit of the urban political machines of the early 19th century where one form of patronage was contracts for government jobs. There are many reform laws however, passed during the New Deal, that have changed the process of awarding government contracts to make it more fair. I'm surprised that Whitefish was able to get this contract without open bidding. I'm also surprised that no one seems to know exactly how this happened. I personally think that they know more than they are willing to say, but that may just be my inner cynic talking. I'm not surprised the contract was voided.
Ahhh, it appears I'm out of it too. I meant to say "We got it"
I do not think this was a sign of corruption because even though someone high up in the government has a connection to this company, Puerto Rico still needs power. Therefore, I believe that if there was any way Puerto Rico could get power in a timely manner - with a reasonable cost - they should go for it. However, many people have different viewpoints about if it is okay to subcontract, which may be why Puerto Rico canceled the deal. But, we can only speculate as there probably was much more than just subcontracting and possible government corruption behind the cancellation of the deal.
I also agree that this is probably not a sign of government corruption in Puerto Rico. As Bela said above, Puerto Rico is desperate to get the power grid repaired and the most efficient company to do so would probably get selected. If Puerto Rico received an offer better than Whitefish Energy, Puerto Rico would change their plans without a doubt. Also, I would think that using a subcontracting company made up of 2 workers would be inefficient compared with other power companies.
I do see that there may be a connection between the power company and the political figure, but I do not think that it is a sign of overall corruption in the Puerto Rican government. This may be a suspicious coincidence, but with the limited information that we have access to, I don't think that we are able to confidently decide wether or not this is an instance of government corruption. Additionally, while this may have been a smart political move on the part of the government, it still leaves the territory without access to essential power, and further delays access to aid. I do think that this was a smart move, but it still has downsides.
I agree with most of the above comments that this is probably not a sign of government corruption in Puerto Rico. Bella made a pretty good point that right now getting the power grid repaired is what Puerto Rico is putting all its focus on. Whoever can do that in the most efficient way will get selected for the job. Although I see why some people can look at this and relate it to patronage and early political machine, Puerto Rico did what's in their best interest. They basically took the best offer they could get. I can also see the negative side in which the territory will not have access to otherwise essential power as Genevieve stated. I also think that the subcontracting company of 2 workers doesn't seem like a very compelling company for me to side with. In the end, though, they made a decision that they think best reflects their interests.
I agree with general sentiment regarding Puerto Rico's desperate situation. Restoring power has been a slow, frustrating, and arduous process for their government, especially when their pleas to the federal government have scarcely been answered. I'm not sure of the connection made to the patronage of early government jobs, but I can see why the connection between a high-ranking politician and a seemingly tiny power company can raise suspicions. Puerto Rico is struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and restore power, so I think they will take whatever is offered to them, regardless of the company's ties. Thus, it falls on others less preoccupied to investigate ties between the company and the associated politician. However, Puerto Rico's cancel of the contract shows awareness of the investigations, which is noble almost to a fault.
Have people forgotten that Puerto Rico has gone through a devastating natural disaster recently? I understand people's fear of corruption, but not everything must have an ulterior motive. People in Puerto Rico are desperate for electricity. So what a government official has ties to the company. People are struggling and the government needs to do whatever possible to help the people. I believe this a circumstance where the government is actually doing its job. They are putting their reputation under fire in order to secure power for their people.
I mean if you think about it, the fact that PREPA gave Whitefish power a $300 million contract is pretty suspicious since it is such a small, unknown company and there are so much other bigger, better-known companies that could do the job just as well, if not better. But in regards to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke having personal and familial connections to the firm, I agree with the comments made above that it is probably just a coincidence. There are three different Congressional Committees that are looking into this though, so I guess we will know sooner or later if this scandal was just people being overly skeptical about a small coincidence or it does entail a bigger problem of PREPA's corruption.
When I looked into this scandal though, PREPA's CEO Ricardo Ramos defended Whitefish power company, saying that the tiny company was the only bidder that didn’t require a down payment and since PREPA is bankrupt and $9 billion in debt and other better-established companies required significant down payments in order to offset the risk that PREPA might not be able to pay off contract work, making a contract with Whitefish seemed like the best option. So far this seems like the best explanation to me.
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