Q&A
Pricing concerns and comparisons for commissary items
0:19:01
ยท
152 sec
Council Member Julie Won raises concerns about reports of Keefe Group overcharging for commissary items. Deputy Commissioner James Conroy defends the pricing, explaining DOC's comparison process and reasons for price differences.
- DOC claims their comparisons didn't show the reported 100% price discrepancies.
- Conroy explains that some price differences are due to security packaging requirements.
- DOC maintains that their prices are generally consistent with community prices, with some items being slightly higher or lower.
Julie Won
0:19:01
There have been reports that Keefe was charging people in custody for more for items than specified in their contract and for some, nearly a 100% higher than what is charged in local stores, the benchmark established in your contract.
0:19:14
Did you investigate these assertions?
0:19:16
Were they substantiated?
0:19:17
And how did DOC's contracting officers demonstrate the need for a negotiated acquisition, in this case, as opposed to a competitive bidding process, particularly if the provider was overcharging?
James Conroy
0:19:30
We had done and had continued to do pricing comparisons.
0:19:34
There were members of the staff who were dedicated to this task.
0:19:37
We did not see those levels of of price discrepancies when you're describing a 100% more.
0:19:44
The the comparisons were done in comparison to local, competitive pricing based on a per ounce comparison.
0:19:52
In some circumstances, we could not do a direct apples to apples, comparison because of the need for some of the items to be packaged in a secure manner for a jail system.
0:20:06
That that's an element that's not accounted for in in some of the conversations that we've we've had and and have seen is that there's a, you know, a need for clear packaging or other types of things.
0:20:16
For instance, we can't have cans of tuna because of the metal and and the security risk that that presents.
0:20:22
So some of that is accounted for in the pricing.
0:20:24
But nonetheless, we did not see the discrepancies that have been articulated.
Julie Won
0:20:28
Have you seen the articles where they do, side by side comparisons by the city?
James Conroy
0:20:34
We have seen those articles.
0:20:35
And and, again, while I can't speak as to the the processes of the reporter, we do know that, again, we have a holistic and and robust mechanism for people to check the prices.
0:20:47
And in in many circumstances, the prices are lower than what we see in the community.
0:20:52
And in some circumstances, there they they can be.
0:20:55
You know, the problem with what we see is it's not it's not it's convenient to, like, what you could do now is just go online and look at price comparisons to what's on sale or otherwise.
0:21:04
This is something that where the vendor has to maintain things in stock consistently.
0:21:08
You have these security mechanisms regarding the packaging and otherwise.
0:21:13
So where we can we did these robust ounce comparisons per price and they were generally consistent with the prices that we see in the community again.
0:21:23
Some being slightly higher, some being slightly lower, But the prices that are in the contract are consistent and stable and are not subject to increase except by approval through the Department of Corrections.
Julie Won
0:21:33
Can you tell us about your process itself of how you're doing price comparisons?