The D.C. Council on Tuesday unanimously rejected 14 one-year proposed contracts worth up to $10 million each, arguing that Mayor Adrian Fenty would use the deals to evade council oversight of work valued at $1 million or more.
The contracts, called Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity, are virtually detail-free. The work comprises “all labor, supervision, tools, materials, equipment, transportation, and management necessary to provide contraction, repair, and renovation,” according to the Fenty administration.
Over the next year, the executive branch would issue task orders to the 14 contractors of between $500 and $3 million.
The problem, council leaders say: By approving the contracts, the legislative branch would waive its right to review all work orders of more than $1 million. “If these were resubmitted in conformance with the $1 million threshold then I would be happy to move them,” said Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Fenty aides say IDIQ contracts are industry standard, and their rejection will result in “needless delay” in delivering first-class facilities.
