Griffin Realty will market and generate bids for the station, according to the terms of a professional services agreement, which became effective Oct. 24.
Under the agreement, Griffin Realty will receive 4 percent of the gross proceeds from the estimated $3.2 million sale of the building, or about $128,000.
Griffin Realty offered the lowest quote for services among, according to the City. Of seven total firms included in an invitation for quotes, only one other firm, CBRE, responded. Its quote was between 5 to 6 percent.
The City is selling the station due to plans to move the police headquarters to the western portion of the former Showers Brothers factory building downtown. The building now houses city hall.
Griffin led the purchase of that part of the building as deputy mayor.
Don Griffin. (Courtesy Photo)
The agreement received some discussion but no action from the city’s Board of Public Works, despite appearing on the board’s Oct. 10 agenda for a vote.
Board members were slated to vote that evening but got caught up with other business. Griffin, who attended the meeting, left before members could discuss the item.
Corporation Counsel Beth Cate, the city’s chief legal officer, said the agreement was brought to board members for the sake of transparency but did not need their approval.
“There are other things that the board does in this process, like approve the notice that gets published with respect to the offer of sale for the property,” Cate said. “So, the board is involved, and we just want to make sure that they’re fully informed.”
Beth Cate. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
The board could have voted on the agreement at its Oct. 24 meeting, but it didn’t appear on the agenda.
At an Oct. 9 work session, two of the three board members expressed concerns over the agreement, given Griffin’s former role with the city.
“It feels like (…) someone who had a lot of information about this project at one point who is no longer employed by the city and suddenly is getting a contract to sell,” board member Elizabeth Karon said. “I’m not suggesting any impropriety, but I am uncomfortable.”
Elizabeth Katon. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Karon, a former city employee, said she would recuse herself from a vote because Griffin was her direct supervisor when he served as deputy mayor.
Cate told the board the Legal Department conducted an ethics review and found no violation of the city’s policies.
At that same meeting, board member Jane Kupersmith asked Cate whether entering an agreement with Griffin’s firm would avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
“I’m just thinking about the nature of conflict-of-interest agreements, and how they usually state that you have to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest,” Kupersmith said.
Jane Kupersmith. (Courtesy of Community Access Television Services)
Cate said there is no conflict of interest because the firm selection process was open, and Griffin Realty offered the lowest bid.
“My understanding is that the choice, at the end of the day, was really just based on price,” Cate said. “We’re trying to get the best overall deal for the city with respect to this property.”
Cate told WFIU/WTIU News board members’ concerns and questions were addressed in memos to the board from the city’s Legal Department.
“We went back, looked, and said, ‘We don’t have to put the board to voting on this, particularly if a couple of members have concerns about their own ability to vote on it,’” Cate said. “Let’s just address ethics issues or questions that have come up.”
In Indiana, “profiteering from public service” is a felony. State code defines that as “’knowingly or intentionally obtaining a pecuniary interest in a contract or purchase with an agency within one year after separation from employment with the agency,’” when that person is no longer a public servant for the agency ‘but who as a public servant approved, negotiated, or prepared on behalf of the agency the terms or specifications of … the contract … or purchase…’”
In an Oct. 20 memo, Cate wrote that the statute does not apply to Griffin because he did not approve, negotiate or prepare the contract for purchase before leaving the administration.
“While Mr. Griffin of course interacted with the Bloomington Police Department in his role as Deputy Mayor, and engaged personally and substantially in activities surrounding the acquisition of Showers West, he would not have had any unfair knowledge when it came to bidding on consultant services to sell the current police building,” Cate wrote.
“To refuse to permit Mr. Griffin to participate as a bidder for the services in question … would effectively be punishing him for engaging in public service, and would serve to discourage others from so engaging in future.”
Griffin told WFIU/WTIU News he should not be precluded from doing business with the city because of his previous service.
“That would be a terrible statement to make to the community; that statement, which basically (says), ‘If you volunteer, or if you work for your community, that precludes you from doing business with your city later on,’” Griffin said. “If that were the case, I think most people would say, ‘…I’m not going to work for the city, because I’m never going to be able to do business with the city ever again.’”
The city’s agreement with Griffin Realty expires after Dec. 31. According to the city’s notice of sale for the police station, bids will be accepted until Dec. 12.
