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Taking (Personal) Advantage of Public Contracts

March 30, 2011

Carolina County has just awarded a contract for uPad tablet computers. Bill Goats, the purchasing officer for Carolina County, is having lunch with his friend in the public works department, Steve Jabs. Bill mentions the contract to Steve. “My daughter … Read more

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: When Sealed Bids Are Required

February 23, 2011

Your school system is bidding out a $1.2 million school construction project. Because the total cost of the project will exceed the formal bidding threshold for construction and repair ($500,000), you’ve advertised for formal bids. The bids are due tomorrow … Read more

Counting the Days

February 9, 2011

Paul Purchaser is putting the final touches on his first Invitation for Bids (IFB) for Carolina City, and he’s trying to figure out when he has to place the advertisement for the IFB in the newspaper. He knows the formal … Read more

Selling Seized Property

January 12, 2011

In the course of his law enforcement duties, Police Officer Steve Spielburger has seized a shark’s tooth, a bullwhip, and a bicycle.  While investigating a theft, he also recovered an unusually large egg that no one has claimed.  What should … Read more

Local Preferences in Public Contracting, Part 6

December 8, 2010

This is the final post in a series on local preference policies.  (Earlier posts can be found here, here, here, here, and here.)  Once again, we find ourselves listening in on the Emerald City Council meeting where the Council is … Read more

Local Preferences in Public Contracting, Part 5

November 24, 2010

This is the fifth installment in a series of posts discussing the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  (You can find the earlier installments here, … Read more

Local Preferences in Public Contracting, Part 4

November 10, 2010

This is the fourth installment of a series of posts discussing the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  (You can find the earlier installments here, … Read more

Local Preferences in Public Contracting, Part 3

October 20, 2010

In my last two posts (here and here), I’ve discussed the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  Purchasing Officer Scarecrow has just finished reviewing the … Read more

Local Preferences in Public Contracting, Part 2

October 6, 2010

In my last post, I talked about the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy. We now rejoin our friends in Emerald City, where the City … Read more

Local Preferences in Public Contracting, Part 1

September 22, 2010

Hard times have come to Emerald City, North Carolina.  People are out of work, no one is buying or building anything, and it doesn’t look like things will get better anytime soon.  The Emerald City Council has decided that they … Read more