PLCB awards $173,000 contract to manager's spouse: what do you think?

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board recently awarded a $173,000 contract to a West End consulting firm whose president is married to the PLCB's Western Pennsylvania regional manager [ read PG story ].

What do you think of the situation?

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PG Admin1:

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board recently awarded a $173,000 contract to a West End consulting firm whose president is married to the PLCB's Western Pennsylvania regional manager [ read PG story ].

What do you think of the situation?

 Sounds like cronyism to me.

The LCB should be abolished

Even though unscientific, your research is lacking; there are plenty of bad experiences to go around.  I posted mine at PAWineTalk :

http://www.pawinetalk.com/talk/7_160_0.html

Don't get me wrong, this was an exception and generally my experiences are positive, but to imply that there are no issues is incorrect.

 The only surprise here is that more of these "arrangements" aren't uncovered.  Additionally why are they spending money on customer service anyway?  They are a monopoly.  They don't have to.  That alone proves that this arrangement stinks.

Sell and privatize the entire thing; it's a dinosaur.

Pennsylvania is only one of two states to have state control of the sale of alcohol

It's nothing but patronage

Burghman:

Sell and privatize the entire thing; it's a dinosaur.

Pennsylvania is only one of two states to have state control of the sale of alcohol

It's nothing but patronage

I don't disagree with your sentiment, but PA is not "only one of two states to have state control of the sale of alcohol."  As of 2005 there were 18:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage_control_state

wilkinsmd:

Burghman:

Sell and privatize the entire thing; it's a dinosaur.

Pennsylvania is only one of two states to have state control of the sale of alcohol

It's nothing but patronage

I don't disagree with your sentiment, but PA is not "only one of two states to have state control of the sale of alcohol."  As of 2005 there were 18:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage_control_state

 I stand corrected

 Gee, what a surprise this is!!! I can't believe something like this happened in Governor Ed Rendell's administrastion. 

This is what you get for not voting for Lynn Swann.

It's a taxpayer handout to help the family during these troubling economic times.

Contracts like these have been awarded time after time to those ,"in the know'.

The system for awarding state contracts needs to be overhauled to protect the

taxpayer and eliminate back room bidding. A TIME FOR CHANGE , is here!

 The contract itself is ridiculous.  Consumers can only purchase wine and liquor at a state store, so how will improving customer skills increase sales?  Does anyone really think someone will stop buying wine or liquor because the salespeople are rude or ignorant about their product?  However, assuming it is a smart idea to hire someone for this task, awarding the contract to Solutions 21 is a mistake.  Even if everything was done above board, there is still the appearance of cronyism and impropriety and that should be enough to halt the contract.  Solutions 21 should never have been allowed to bid on the contract in the first place.

 This is nothing compared a much larger problem that the LCB has.  That is, they cannot track inventory.  I learned this firsthand after having found at four stores ALL the inventory of a certain brand MISSING one day a few years ago - none of the managers could explain why their computers were showing this in stock while in fact it was missing. 

This is why the LCB cannot privatize the liquor sales, even though it makes sense for the state to get out of the buisiness.  The sale of the stores yield serious revenues for Pennsylvania.  In order to privatize, an accounting of inventory would have to take place and LCB people could likely go to prison for conspiracy to misapproriate a lot more than $173,000.

Think about it.  If four stores are missing 20 bottles of one brand of liquor in one day, then how many bottles of ALL brands are missing in 500 stores over ten years?  OMG

Stimulate THAT Ed!

Most government contracts are awarded through a bidding process.

If this was the case then there should be no problem.

 Lynn Swann - nice guy- ZERO political experience, weakest candidtae since Tokin' Bill Scranton (lol).  You sound like a homer, greyhound.  The republican Party in this state has no leaders and if the best we could do was Lynn Swann then the party is in serious trouble.  Bleak Horizons indeed.   The Donkeys are laughing at the elephants-- and the elephants should be ashamed. 

Here's a donkey slogan for 2010.,.  Specter in 2010,  laughed the gleeful Donkey.....

need I say more?

Just another reason to take my business elsewhere. Every time I travel to another state I call my friends, take orders and return with their requests and my own wine and liquor supplies, sometimes several cases. I spend a lot of time on the road and spend what amounts to a lot of money but not in PA.

And simple customer service applies; as in Please and Thank you and May I Help You, why does it cost $176,000 to get that done?

Obama got elected with less than zero experience