BOARD AWARDS RADIO CONTRACT TO JOHNSON COMMUNICATION

Cape Girardeau's Board of Education awarded a bid to Johnson Communication for two-way radios and pagers after repeating the bidding process.

Johnson Communication, also known as JCS Tel-Link, entered the low bid of $6,633 for the 12 radios and four pagers for the first year.

Dittronics' bid was $6,929.40 and Star Communication's bid was $7,641.

At last month's meeting, Star Communication owner Tim Singleton questioned the propriety of the bidding process. The recommendation at that meeting was to award the purchase to Johnson Communication, owned by Reg and Kathy Swan. Kathy Swan serves on the school board.

To avoid any appearance of impropriety, the board decided to rebid the equipment.

A pre-bid conference was held, attended by two school board members and a lawyer for the school district, along with potential bidders. Three bids were received.

The school district's conflict-of-interest policy states that if a school board member has more than a 10 percent ownership interest in a business, purchases for more than $500 from that business must be bid and the company must offer the lowest bid.

When a school board member's company isn't involved, the district can purchase items up to $5,000 before a bid is needed.